Chapter 01: Mage

"I am the chronicler of this story and I have the power to peer into the minds of the characters, this power I will share to you, allowing you a peek into their thoughts, feelings and the like. Now, come with me and listen carefully, to the chronicles I shall write to you."

Signed: secret memories

***

'A century has passed and the world is more stable now. I wonder if there'd be more serious work for people in my profession,' Arthur pondered as he sat lazily on his swivel chair inside the police station. Despite having excellent records in his more than five years of work in the force, he had a major flaw--at the age of 28, he still had not gotten himself a wife. To solve this problem he had opted to meet with a girl on a date arranged for him by a workmate. After the day was over, with little to no filed complaints from the public, he headed home and took a hot refreshing bath.

Arthur belonged to a special division in Branch's police force that handled undesirable tensions between Aetherean and Gaian people; this was because, after the territories of The Republic of Branch and the Kingdom of Cloud became close neighbors, it wasn't strange for tensions to occur between citizens of both sovereignty; at least, that was how it was a long time ago. Now, through peaceful diplomacy, both Nations have opened up their borders for trade and tourism and have become indispensible partners.

Through the magic arts of Aethereans, the magic technology of Gaians had improved to an astonishing degree, which they never forgot to share to their neighbors as payment for their generosity.

After bathing, Arthur went on to wear his best attire: a hooded jacket paired with a pair of black jeans--this wasn't a formal date after all. He went out in that get up until he arrived at the rendezvous, a giant plaza packed with people from all walks of life. He sat on the bench and waited for the woman to arrive.

Evening came but there were still no signs of her.

'Figures... another failure huh?" he thought, pumping a fist. "Don't be saddened me, I know you'll find the right one soon."

Just as those last thoughts trailed off in exchange for some other random thoughts, a beautiful girl came running towards him dressed in a grey coat over a pink shirt and a pale-brown long skirt.

"Are you perhaps Arthur?" she asked him, slightly panting.

"Yes," Arthur gazed at her suspiciously, "I am Arthur. Where were you? I was waiting for ages here."

The girl frantically fidgeted, looking for the right words to explain her situation. Seeing her reaction, Arthur couldn't help but sigh.

"I was expecting to have dinner with you anyway so I guess we can just skip the sight-seeng and get right to the point," he said, standing up.

"O-okay!" the girl beamed a smile, haplessly replying, "thanks for your consideration!"

"You're quiet formal aren't you?" told Arthur, walking forward. "Do me a favor and loosen up a bit will you?"

"O-of course, e-er, Mr. Arthur."

Arthur puffed a snippet of laughter. "You've just contradicted yourself right there. Meh, let's just hurry on and finish this quickly."

****

"Aisha was it?" asked Arthur, munching on the noodles he ordered, "I'm sorry for this; as you can see, my salary's barely enough to make ends meet, for now I can only afford this."

"No, it's not a problem Mr. Crane. I'm very happy for the noodles."

"Now you're resorting to my last name? This date seems to be doing the opposite," Arthur chuckled, "but enough of that; tell me more about yourself."

Hearing that, Aisha turned gloomy all of a sudden and found it hard to speak. Arthur could see her face flushed with shyness and timidity. He, realizing she didn't want to talk about it, quickly changed the subject, relieving the stiff air by talking about his line of work and the like.

At the end of the day, nothing eventful happened, nothing clicked, and no hearts fell in love. Arthur, being a considerate fellow, offered to accompany Aisha home, and despite being declined many times, insisted and won over her approval.

They walked towards the station together in a merry atmosphere, occasionally laughing and smiling along the way.

****

The moment they arrived at the train station, Arthur noticed the stillness and silence in the air and immediately pulled a magic handgun from the holster hidden under his jacket.

"Get behind me Aisha," he said, putting an arm in front of Aisha, while holding the handgun on his right. "Something's not right."

"Mr. Crane, what are you talking about?"

"The train station is empty," he said inspecting his surroundings with a careful gaze. "I've heard stories like this before. An anomaly called dimensional pockets caused by a--"

"An Elemental!" exclaimed Aisha looking into the dark distance.

"What do you mean by Elemental? This is obviously the work of a Mutate."

'Ah, that's right, difference in vocabulary huh?' thought Aisha.

"Let me handle this," said Aisha in a concerned tone.

"Don't joke around Aisha, this thing can kill us in an instant!"

Not heeding his words Aisha quickly stood in front of Arthur and pulled something from under her coat—

'A magic wand!' mumbled Arthur, surprised by the sudden revelation of Aisha's magic tool.

"I invoke, flames of nature manifest yourself before me and heed my command!"

She pointed her wand at the darkness in front of her.

"Consume!"

A gust of flames came gushing forth from the tip of her wand, lighting up the environment and revealing the thousands of mice-like creatures with glowing red eyes that had infested the area. The fire engulfed all of the mice until only ashes were left of them.

"You're a mage!" blurted Arthur in astonishment. "Incredible, what powerful magic!"

Suddenly the whole place began packing with people as the anomaly wore off after the cause got incinerated by Aisha. Aisha turned around to look at the befuddled face of her acquaintance.

"Sorry for not telling you earlier," she explained, "I was afraid you'd find it uncomfortable."

Arthur's face suddenly brightened up, recovering from the initial shock and spoke the words that broke Aisha's prejudice towards Gaians.

"Why would I? That was amazing!"

"But you were shocked, weren't you?"

"Of course I would be shocked. In the face of that spectacle no man wouldn't be surprised."

"I-I see," Aisha said, looking down in embarrassment. "I thought Gaians were jealous of Aethereans' magic?"

"Who told you that?" asked Arthur candidly. "While I'm not gonna hide the fact that there are activists who seem insecure of your power, I guarantee that there are a lot of us who see nothing wrong with you people. So it's all fine, no need to hold back towards me."

"In that case," responded Aisha, "can I continue meeting with you?"

"Of course! How about next week, sound good?"

"Yup," Aisha smiled happily and adorably, "it's a date then."