Chapter 2: A Flash of The Past

A gentle breeze blew through the air, a sweet scent being carried with. The soft touch a petal landing, stirring slowly. The first sight, a wide open sky, beautiful, blue, the sun high in the day. A pink cherry blossom fluttering softly down, moving with his white hair, slowly covering an eye. Grabbing it and slowly sitting up Glice stared at it in his hand. "It's autumn, what is this doing here? And where am… I?" he said looking up to the empty planes he sat in, the wind blowing through the grass, with nothing for miles. "Wasn't I just in-"

"Isaac, are you having a nap in the sun again," came a familiar voice behind him, the soft crunching of grass under a foot. Turning to the sound he saw a woman standing nearly thirty centimeters taller than him. She had short brown hair, just above her shoulders. Kind gentle brown eyes, with a smile, warm, inviting, caring. Long robes adorned her body, even the sleeves dragging behind her with each step. An aura of perpetual calm surrounded her, but each step gave off elegance.

Gasping and bowing to the approaching woman he felt a wave of nostalgia looking at her. "Master I wasn't I was just…" Glice paused not only caught off guard seeing his teacher, but being called by his own name for the first time in a while and hearing a much softer voice, younger. Lifting his head up he found himself in robes, a light blue with snow print covering the bottom. Sleeves reaching about his wrist, his hands smaller, arms thin lacking the definition he worked hard to add. Looking over his smaller frame he felt peace, a smile creeping over his face while looking back to see the bow the sash made when properly tied.

Looking forward he saw it, the large wall that surrounded the monastery just behind his teacher. He could hear the sounds of the training, including the unmistakable sound of metal being struck. A single tear ran down Isaac's cheek as he saw it, his home.

Feeling a hand on his head and sleeve down his back, he looked up to see his master patting his head, "oh Isaac you have always been too high strung. You need to learn to let yourself relax, it's not a bad thing. When you're ready, come back in." Removing her hand from his head slowly.

Reaching up Isaac wiped the tear from his up before looking back, she was gone. Taking a deep breath he began to walk toward the large wooden double doors of the temple.

As the doors opened Isaac saw a burning hell scape. Fires raging on every building with robe covered monks rushing around trying to put them out. Screams of agony filled his ears as the orange flames burst up in front of him. Recoiling from this, shielding his face, shutting his eyes tight, it went silent. Opening his eyes again it was peaceful. The sounds he had heard from outside returning.

At the far end was about forty monks, lined up, practicing drills, each one in a different color robe, most with bald heads, all doing it in time with one another. In the center stood two individuals. A larger fellow clad in large plate armor, a scale like sheen covering it, two crossed wings creating a large tower shield in their left hand, and in their right was a longsword, a segment near its hilt covered in serrations. The gauntlets and boots looked like a dragon's talon had wrapped around it. The helmet held the design of a dragon's maw, open with a visor in the mouth, long slits from top to bottom allowing them to see out.

Across from the metal dragon was a peculiar sight, it looked almost like a serpent made of shadows. The head had a long muzzle, eyes glowing yellow. The body was thin and continued to the floor, devoid of limbs, the form continuing a few feet past, trailing behind them. With blinding speed an arm appeared from the right of it, slender and seeming to grow from the base, the front having a three clawed hand. It struck the armor only to glance off of the tower shield carried. The sword being brought up and striking down across the body of the serpent. With incredible agility the serpent seemed to snake around the blade, over and past it, rolling up within the shield of the armored giant. Seeing such a display and paying attention Isaac caught a glimpse, the leg and robes of another monk, these ones black as night.

Now close to the armored dragon the arm re-emerged, claws striking right at the slits, stopping one barely inside of them. Both parties held still for a moment before the shadows all at once dropped revealing the full hidden form. There stood a woman, fairly tall, about one hundred and ninety centimeters with a lanky body. Adorned in a long black robe, loosely draped around her body. The sleeves were short, barely covering anything past the shoulder with tatters along the edge, clearly ripped off. Long black hair reached down almost to her butt, tied half way down her back into a low ponytail. Pulling her hand back showed off long black sharp nails. Barely catching a glimpse of them from the side he could see her striking black eyes, as dark as the shadows she made, a small nose with thin lips. The aura she gave off made looking at her feel like watching a cold and calculating snake, ready to strike.

Backing out from the large dragon she sighed, "Barry you are very strong and your defenses are good but you are too slow. You need to learn to cover your weak points better." Walking out a bit before turning back and getting into a stance ready for another round, body low with arms held close to her.

The knight reached up to the visor and ripped it off, letting out a deep breath, showing the face of a young man, no older than twenty years old, a brown mustache adorned his upper lip and short scraggly beard on his lower cheeks. He began to pant while resting on his sword. "Look Sylvia, I may be skilled enough to use 3 elements, and combine them to use metal magic, but that sword is still heavy. You're just too agile, for me to hit with it. Can we please call this here, we have been at it for hours!" He stood up straight, leaning back a bit and slumping his shoulder trying to breath better. After a few moments he brought his head back down making eye contact with Isaac, his tired face seemed to renew as he smiled. "Oh Isaac, where have you been all day? Off training alone, or just goofing off again? Next time you should let someone know where you a-" Barry was cut off by a strike to his chest, a small black pellet striking the middle of his chest.

Seeing this everything seemed to turn red, Barry becoming a silhouette, his frame fading down to a skeleton while slowly falling back. Isaac gasped, feeling fear creep up his spine, a tear in his eyes. A blink and gone, there stood Barry again clutching his chest where a small dent was when he moved his hands. Another pellet struck his left shoulder, then his right knee, each dispersing into a cloud and leaving a small dent where they landed.

"You can harass your protégé after you finish your training. And I am still gonna keep making sure he keeps up with his agility and martial arts training. I don't want him to end up like you, HE will have a balance with his fighting," Sylvia said, putting emphasis there to try to make sure her words stung. Turning her head Isaac she smiled, the smile looked warm and kind but staying in the fighting stance was quite the contradiction, like looking at a physical manifestation of yin and yang.

Without even looking away she flicked another pellet of shadow. Quickly lifting up his tower shield Barry blocked, the pellet dispersing off the shield but still leaving a dent. He brought up the visor, it glowed gray while it moved to his face it seemed to turn to a liquid and leap onto his face, returning to its place on the helmet. His armor began to grow gray as he picked up his sword. He let out a roar getting into a fighting stance before growling out, "fine Sylvia I will go another round if you really want." The dents in his armor popped back into place like they never even happened.

The ground around Barry began to shift, allowing him to sink into it. A small puff of flames popped out the front of the slits and out the maw as he made his stance. Sylvia smiled wickedly seeing this, "perfect, you are finally getting into this. Dragon Silk," as she said the last words, a black circle appeared below her feet. A pillar of shadows shot from it into the air, fading to reveal the serpent from before. Lunging forward striking toward the knight they began to exchange blows. The metal seemed to melt from Barry's shield and sword to both block and lash out attacks and Sylvia coiled and dodged past them. The speed of the two kept climbing making Isaac's head spin.

Leaving the scene of the sparing he could hear the two begin to roar, heat beginning to spread from them. Intense enough he could have sworn they were still right behind him. It's good the monastery was prepared if they started a fire, they learned that after the first few times it happened. He turned to the living quarters, a large building 4 stories tall where every single monk would call their own, each getting a small room. Heading through the halls it felt peacefully nostalgic. The cobblestone floor, the walls a pale red. Going up past the first and second floors he began to enter his floor, the elite quarters. He was considered a diamond in the rough here by most of his teachers, quickly moving up the ranks but he didn't understand why they would put him on the floor meant for the elite.

Passing by his mentor's rooms he got to his own, grabbing the handle it felt hot. Fearing for a fire in his room he quickly opened it up, nothing, just his room as it normally was. A hay bed on his right and a desk on the left pressed against the back wall. A blue book stood leaning against the wall, a drop on its cover, the edges were tattered and frayed. A similar book splayed on the table, open up, the cover was green instead. He smiled looking them over, remembering the day he had been given them, being handed brand new copies of tombs, the whole temple pitching in to give them to him. Taking a second glance at the books, they were pristine, as good as the day he was given them.

While holding the books in his hand he heard a mischievous giggle behind him, turning quickly he saw nothing before a pair of thin arms wrapped themselves across his chest. Being lifted up slightly, Isaac found himself being pulled into a tight embrace. Glancing back he saw the smiling face of a woman with short golden blonde hair in a bob cut, she wore a robe that was unique, similar to his, it had imagery on it. Her robes were covered in storm clouds at the top, rain and lightning down to the lower which depicted both fire and plant life.

As the woman increased the strength of her hug Isaac felt his breath slowly get squeezed out, barely squeaking out, "Nova, you're crushing me." Letting out a surprised gasp she let go of him. Stumbling on his feet as he regained some breath. Turning to look at her, she was smiling as bright as the sun. She was very young, no older than 16 or 17 and fairly small, about one hundred fifty centimeters. But despite her looks she was considered the second strongest in the whole compound by a wide margin. Only losing to the master.

She was a prodigy for elemental magic in the truest sense of the word. At such a young age she could use four of the six different elements, Wind, Fire, Water and Lightning. Not only that but she was proficient in most of their combinations, including the one for all four, Storm. This made her a true terror on the battlefield, able to harness the stronger winds, more powerful lightning, the raging water and blistering heat all at once made it hard for anyone to keep up. Throwing in other combinations into her assault allowed for a wider range that seemingly no one could stop.

"Hey, hey, Isaac do you know why I am so happy? We were selected to go on a mission together! Can you believe it, the two of us prodigy's going out together, this will be a piece of cake!" Her excitement was palpable, Isaac could have sworn her magic was leaking out. He sighed heavily and smiled, her energy being infectious. He felt the heat in the room begin to rise, a small layer of water being made. Looking down at it then back up at Nova her left eye was missing as blood dripped down her face. In an instant lightning cracked behind her and a strong gust launched him out of his room and into the hall.

Scrambling to be sitting upright it was gone and she was leaning down in front of him. A confused look plagued her face, "are you okay Iss? You suddenly flew out of the room." He had completely forgotten about that nickname, She called him that because of how close to ice it sounded. Seeing her okay and that close to him he couldn't help himself but to chuckle, getting up to his feet and dusting himself off.

Looking down the hallway down to the ground floor and out of the living area, "yeah I am fine. Guess I was just excited for the mission that I couldn't wait to get going," Isaac said starting to head down.

"I'll race you to the master then. I'll even give you a 30 second head start," the sweet voice behind him chirped out. He knew this wasn't an invitation, it was a challenge. His next step caused a green glow to grow over him, as his heel lifted from the floor a large gust of wind blew from behind it, beginning to run to the stairs hoping the extra boost would help him win.

Each stride took him almost a meter as he ran, using wind to find his balance and even to make his descent down the staircase faster, quickly pivoting and rushing down. Bursting out the front door he continued to run, seeing the long robes of his instructor at the far end of the courtyard. He lost count of how long it had been, not even caring he was close. He made each stride worth it, only to hear the sound of storm clouds above the barracks he rushed from. Halfway across he turned back to see clouds begin to form, dropping from them was the blonde. She fell gracefully from the four story building with one leg outstretched to hit the floor first.

Turning forward he saw he was almost there, only two more strides and he would win. As her foot is about to reach the floor it stops, she tilts forward as wind begins to pick up around her. In a crack of thunder she flashes forward past him, spinning around and landing before the master sliding a bit as she uses wind to stop herself. Smiling she jumped a bit as she saw Isaac slow down, seeing her win yet another race.

Nova smiled holding up a pair of fingers on each hand in the shape of a V. While she gloated her victory their master swiftly hit her on the head, "Nova show some humility. You have plenty to learn yourself, even as a prodigy. Humility will be a path that can lead you to greater success. While confidence is a strong blade know that overconfidence is a blade too heavy to wield," their master spoke calmly while walking in front of the pair. Nova shook her head, rolling her eyes and mocking the speech by flapping her hand along. Their teacher shot an annoyed glare down at Nova, getting the girl to drop her hands sweating nervously. Their master sighed, the sound of an impact into the ground rang from outside the walls of the monastery, "Nova, please fetch Sylvia and Barry for me. I would like to debrief the whole team I am sending at once."

Nova nodded and stood up, some wind manifesting below her before she shot into the air. Isaac rushed over to the gate to watch. There stood Barry, armor gone revealing his strong body, he was pretty well trained. His chest was wide with large muscles covering his body, a few scars on his chest from previous battles, with one long one from his shoulder straight down almost to his waist. He was covered in scratches, a few scraps of metal moving around his body like liquid to stop strikes from an equally beat up Sylvia. Her dragon form had dropped with what little remaining mostly focusing around her hands as claws and a set of wings on her back.

They both paused for a moment before taking a sharp breath and lunging at each other. Barry lifts his sword for a horizontal strike at the serpent. Sylvia quickly rushed in, hands covering in the black mist forming claws as she went for a stabbing attack. In a flash Nova was between them, her foot planted squarely in Barry's abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. Nova glanced over at Sylvia in the instant, time slowing down as they made eye contact. Nova quickly spun around, leg still outstretched from the kick, almost like pivoting on her heel mid air. After a spin she let out a kick into Sylvia's back sending her straight into the ground as Barry was launched away, rolling on the ground.

It was incredible to watch the speed, it was so fast the strikes appeared two happen at the same time. Landing softly on the floor she looked at both of them with slight exasperation, "Give it a rest you two. Last time you went this far we had to rebuild the walls of this place. Even then you didn't have a clear winner. Now come on, the master wants to give us a run down of the mission we are gonna go on in a few days," Nova spoke with authority, even while being younger than both of the individuals. They both got up slowly, gripping onto their bodies where it clearly still ached from the fight.

The group slowly walked back into the walls of their home, Barry and Sylvia limped along, wind from Nova under them to help them move. They walked before their teacher, the two still tired from combat fell to a knee, bowing their heads in respect while Nova brought her hands together before her, her sleeves covering them while also bowing. Isaac nervously did a deep bow with his hands at his side.

A slow raise of her hand brought them all to look up at her, the master of the temple. She spoke slowly and calmly while looking down at them with warmth, kindness and pride. "You have proven yourselves time and time again in my presence and care. You are my elite and as such have earned such a respect that I trust in my judgment to send you all on this, a very important campaign. We have found reason to believe that the group holding an object from one of the first Prophet's has been attacked. An offshoot of an old organization from said Prophet's time to be precise. Smoke has been seen from Erudition's base and reports of a large group leaving the complex have been plastered over the news." Her face slowly changed to one of importance as she spoke.

"If this group does have such a relic from that era then we must retrieve it, to keep such a powerful tool out of the hands of someone dangerous. If they do have it approach with caution, Prophets are individuals that have used the power of a Grimoire of The Gods. These individuals have incredible strength and control of the magic gifted to them as well as a special eye with yet unknown potential. Notably the founder of our fighting style and this very temple was a Prophet and experts in this style have learned to mimic such a power if only on a small scale. This all being said a relic made by a Prophet should be treated like a weapon of mass destruction. Keep each other safe and protect each other. Remember while on mission to use each other's code names."

Walking over to Isaac the master looked down at him, "As this is your first mission away from the temple I will give you your code name now. Your ice is stronger than anyone else's, as hard as ice from the deepest glacier. Your code name will be Glice, glacier ice." The master put a gentle hand on his shoulder while saying this. "Nova, Barry and Sylvia will retain their usual code names, Tempest, Juggernaut and Dusk. I trust you all will be up to this task. Rest and recover swiftly then set out, time is of the essence my strong students. Now..."

"Go…"

Everything went dark as the last word was said. Isaac began to look around confused. Nothingness as the eyes could see, just pure black. Then a bloodcurdling scream of a young woman. It cut through the dark, loud, long, ear piercing. Recoiling Isaac dropped to his knees covering his ears though it did not help. The scream eventually faded, opening his eyes to find himself back in the middle of the temple he held so dear. Fires whipping from every building, monks running in fear.

Four figures stood before him, back to him looking at the gate. As the gate bust opened the first ran forward doing combat with an invading force. It was a sea of shadowy figures rushing in. The figure was parting them but they kept coming, rushing in, slowly driving them back. The other three began to join in, helping to contain the threat.

Five silhouettes walked in slowly, a petite woman with horns, a tall man holding a sickle bladed sword, a man with a blade sticking up from his shoulder, a man wearing a mask with half smiling half frowning and finally a man walking up the front whose eyes were strange unlike any Isaac had ever seen. The eyes were devoid of the average iris, instead each one had three lines that spiraled down from the edge of his eye to a point in the middle, to the pupil.

The two groups clashed before Isaac's eyes. The first to fall was from the four indistinct figures. The horned woman dodged and weaved around each strike before landing one in the chest of a figure launching them back past Isaac slamming into one of the temple's walls. Looking back he saw the figure was Sylvia unconscious and stuck in the wall.

Before Isaac could even move he heard the sound of metal clanging. Looking back he saw the man with the blade in his shoulder standing over another of the figures, this one on its knees, Barry. Barry looked at his hands as they began to fall away into small cubes then disappearing. Falling forward he faded away.

He heard a cry of horror, the same blood curdling scream that earlier. Looking around he saw a figure falling back, blood spurting from its face as the masked man raked long sharp claws over its face. Everything felt like it was in slow motion, and as the head fell back to reveal the face he saw this was Nova, her left eye missing. Gasping and covering his mouth as she finally hit the floor, screaming out in pain.

He slowly looked back to the final figure standing in the center, his master. She stood there dodging each swing and strike from each, her body a blur. Landing her own strikes, pushing them around but none were that powerful, none had any magic behind them. Her speed began to slow, getting clipped by a few attacks. Her robes being slowly shredded while trying to dodge. Knocking away a few assailants with quick spin, she turned back to look at Isaac, mouthing 'be safe' slowly and clearly.

Isaac reached out to her before a sword appeared through her chest, the end curved and dripping with blood. He gasped while she gripped tightly it before her arms went slack.

Tears welled up in the young ice mages eyes. His breath left him as he watched the life drain from his teachers body. A tear ran down his cheek, a trail of ice followed it. It fell from his face to the ground in time to a drop of blood falling from the tip of the blade that had impaled his beloved teacher.

As it hit the ground a blinding white light spread from that point. The silhouettes recoiled as it engulfed everything. Isaac was alone again in a void, a white void. He looked around, no cries of pain, no danger. Just an empty void, just as cold as the black abyss but it hid nothing.

He curled up on the floor beginning to cry. No one to comfort him, no friends, no loved ones.

No one.

Nothing.

The word felt like a weight, a force crushing him, taking his life and bringing him to join this family. Taking him to the ones he lost.

Empty.

alone.