1 Royal Oak

'Agh! Where..am I? Wh-who am I? Shit, I-I can't see anything. Am…I…dead? Wait, I smell something.'

A young boy took a deep breath which was a mistake because the putrid scent of blood and ash filled his lungs sending him into a coughing fit. His heavy eyes shot open but immediately started to sting from the ash swirling through the air, and every breath was starting to burn his throat more and more. It took him a few moments to collect himself as his body was beginning to adjust to everything as he finally looked around to figure out where he was. The cold hard wooden floor underneath him, the white tarp that encompassed the place, and the overarching feeling of death and dread was starting to build up sending shivers down his spine. It took him a moment to calm down enough to realize he was in the back of a wagon with children tied up, beaten, and barely breathing as his heart started to race again. "What the hell? What the hell is going on?"

He did everything in his power to try and move around but realized that he was also tied up just like the others, and when he tried to remember what happened his head started to ache and his eyes started to tear up and become blurry. Every movement he made was pure agony like his body was screaming out, but in order to get out of wherever he was he needed to push through it. After what seemed like ages of trying to sit up he was on his knees heavy breathing as he leaned against the wagon. He did his best to keep calm and think of anything that could help him escape, but the more he thought the more his body wanted to give up. 'I can't. I just…I just want to break down and cry. Dammit! Why am I so weak! Come on, just look for a way out.'

He took one last deep breath and his body burned from the heat and ash as he tried to calm himself down and think of what to do next, but a booming voice sent shivers up his spine. "What do you think you're doing!? Back on the floor, runt!"

He held his breath trying not to make any heavy movement as he slowly looked around to find out where the voice came from, and when he couldn't see anyone a sudden feeling of relief washed over him. The wind picked up and pushed the tarp flaps from the end of the wagon and some light started to peek through as he slowly made his way over, crawling over the bodies of the children and peeking his head out to see what's going on. The images he saw out there made his skin crawl and his heart sank down to his stomach as bloodied and charred bodies were thrown all over the place. 15 men were dressed in green and black uniforms with massive metallic weapons strung on their backs as they stood around the bodies with smiles on their faces. The boy's eyes were stuck on the biggest of the men who raised a massive ax that seemed sharp enough to cut you just by looking at it as he drove it into a man kneeling and pleading in front of him. "Wasn't it nice of me to tell them to surrender peacefully, and look what these disgusting creatures made me do. Although what did we really expect from the savages of the glade? My nice ax is covered in their revolting blood, but it sure was nice seeing them bleed out."

The boy had a look of horror on his face as a pit began to fill in his stomach and he started dry heaving, but nothing was coming up and his hands began to shake. He was doing everything he could to calm down, but the worst thing that could happen, happened to him. Two of the men closest to the wagon noticed his head poking out as sadistic smiles appeared on their faces. The smaller of the men said, "Commander, it seems like one of the children woke up."

"My blade hasn't had its fill, yet. Can I play with that one?" Said the bigger and angrier of the two, and a spine tingling feeling filled the air like the man's bloodlust came alive, which froze the boy in place.

"Sure, one missing child will be easy to explain." The leader of the men looked at him as if he were nothing and waved his hand nonchalantly, as the two men made their way over. The boy's mind started to go blank from the fear, and before anyone knew what was happening his body started to move on its own. "Shit, shit, shit. I need to get out of here. I need to run."

The boy couldn't control his body but in his mind there was only one thought, survive. He leapt from the wagon and started running as fast as his little body could go, and in an effort to calm his heart and mind he started to focus on the trees in front of him and the sounds of the ground beneath him with each step he took. Gradually a faint burning sensation began flooding his body, and for a split second his eyes closed and suddenly he was out of the woods and instead of trees in front of him there was a wooden sign. -Welcome to Royal Oak-

He stopped and looked around for a split second and saw the small town with a giant lit up tree in the middle of everything and he was too scared, tired, and hungry to think about anything, so he just kept running. The thought of those men behind him didn't give him any chance to catch his breath and eventually he made his way through the city and as he was about to reach the tree exhaustion took hold of his body and he slammed into it at full force. As he slumped to the floor he could hear a faint voice, but lost consciousness before it became clearer.

~Moments earlier

The great Royal Oak Academy is one of the many sister schools that helps young mages control their mana, and give them the necessary education to make anything of themselves. Around this time the schools are usually closed, but in one of the many labs a girl is working on her mana manipulation projects. She yawns loudly as she stretches out her arms and glances out the window when panic engulfs her face. She notices the double moons are shining as she rushes to put everything away, and bursts out the door heading to her locker.

"Crap, I can't believe it's already this close to midnight. Mom is seriously going to kill me this time for being so late. Well, maybe if I rush home right now I should be fine. To be fair it is my birthday, so who knows maybe she will cut me some slack. Great, now I'm talking to myself, I really need to get some rest." She laughed at herself as she slammed the locker shut and sealed it as she made her way towards the exit.

The girl decides to cut through Oak square because the last yellow wagon was scheduled an hour ago, and it was the fastest way home from the school. She is thinking about the new spell she was trying to learn as something weird caught her eye. What looked like a wild animal slammed right into the sacred tree, and when she didn't hear it moving she conjured a water dagger. "Olm Ers Nuo"

~Present

Water spilled out of her hand and began to take the shape of a large dagger as she slowly made her way to the tree trying to be as silent as possible. Her left hand pressed against the tree as she peeked her head around just a little to try and catch a glimpse of whatever it was, but what she saw wasn't exactly a wild animal. There was a young boy who looked to be around the same age as her and was covered in mud, scrapes, ash, and blood as his arms were tied behind his back. Her heart started to ache and tears started to build up as horrific thoughts began to flood her mind. Seeing him look so vulnerable and covered in cuts got the best of her as she crouched down and got closer to him. "Who the hell would do something like this to someone?"

She looked at his face and smiled softly as she started to channel mana into her arms, "Vecro Namis"

Water started to spill out of her hands and fall onto the boy's body but it wasn't getting his clothes wet, instead it passed through them as it engulfed him. She placed her hands on his cheeks in order to start the healing process as a light blue aura started to brighten up the area around them. "I hope I can do this with the amount of power I have left.

She started to feel the coolness of his body begin to warm up, and at the same time her own mana started to feel different. The normal rigidness of her power became calmer and stronger as if the roaring ocean became serene. 'What the hell is this? Where is this power coming from? Crap, it's way too powerful for me to handle. If I can just hold it a little longer. Come on Sam, you can do this.'

The boy's mind was starting to clear as he started to slowly wake up. 'What is this feeling? It's so calming and refreshing. I feel like my body and my mind are finally starting to become one again. Wait, where am I? The last thing I remembered was slamming into that tree, and then nothing. Huh, my face is starting to feel warm.'

The boy tried to open his eyes and at first they were really heavy, but they slowly started to become lighter. Eventually he was able to fully open them and when he did the blue light was too bright for him which made him look away. His eyes had adjusted to the light and when he looked up again he saw a beautiful girl kneeling in front of him smiling softly down at him. 'Woah what happened? It feels like the water all around me is becoming more aggressive and uncontrollable. She stopped smiling, and pain is etched into her face. Is she controlling this water?'

He looks into her dark blue eyes and tries to speak, "S-stop….wa-water…"

He notices her hands are slowly turning purple from the tips of her fingers up to her forearm as she pushes the pain down and gives him a calming smile. The girl didn't hear his plea which gives the boy a horrible feeling in his stomach seeing someone go through so much for some stranger she found. The aches all over his body and some of the bruises start to relax as he feels the strength get back into his muscles. Softly the words escape his mouth. "W-who…are…you?"

The pain on her face starts to ease up as the water begins to dissipate around the boy. The remaining water glides up her arms as the purple hue starts to slowly vanish. "Hi, uh my name is Samantha Lazuli, but most people call me Sam or Sammy. I am a student at the local mage school Royal Oak Academy, and when I found you on the floor I knew I needed to help you. I'm sorry my magic isn't strong enough to fully heal you, but I did the best I could."

The girl had a worried look on her face as she stood up and helped him off the ground as a soft smile appeared on his face. He jumped up a few times and rotated his shoulders as his body felt lighter and more refreshed as he looked up and noticed she was smiling at him. "You look..I mean you did great. I feel way better than I did earlier. Uhh thank you for everything you did, but would it be too much to ask if you could cut these for me? I promise I am not a dangerous person, and hold on, did no one else come by while I was on the floor?"

She nodded softly as he noticed that she had a nervous look on her face and when she took her time to cut the ropes he felt like maybe he should leave her alone. "Thanks for saying that, but it was nothing special. You mostly had scrapes and light bruising, so I did the best I could. Do you mind me asking who you are? I'm only wondering because from your eye color and hair I can tell you're not from around here."

The boy smiled nervously as he began to rub the area the rope was digging into, and noticed the exhausted look on Samantha's face. He felt bad that he caused her so much trouble and tried to remember anything that could give her the answers she wanted, but other than a headache he got nothing. "Look, I don't want you to think I'm lying, but I have no clue who or what I am. All I can remember is being tied up in the back of a wagon and running from some people until I slammed into that tree. I don't want to cause you anymore problems, so please forget I ever existed. You have done more than enough and I owe you my life. Thank you Ms. Lazuli, but I should be going."

The once soft and worried look on her face changed to anger as she reached and aggressively grabbed the boy's shoulder, "Don't you dare think I could just forget about you after finding you covered in cuts and bruises laying on the floor like that. I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight if I knew you were still wandering about being chased for whatever reason without eating or having a good night sleep. How about you join me at my house and have a late dinner with us and get some much needed rest and head out in the morning. As your doctor, that is my order! Okay!?"

The look on her face made the boy feel a little happy, because no matter what he said she wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Okay, I will follow you. For a sweet looking girl you are strangely aggressive."

Samantha's face was as red as a ruby as she turned away and started walking ahead of him as the boy had a confused look on his face. She turned around and gestured for him to follow as her face was still red. "Come on, we can't keep them waiting."