by Zac Atie
”Why?” Bastion asked “What do you mean?”
”To be the first… you know…” Veronica paused, leaning and whispering. “Human Magi… and progress that well with magic… You were nailing it, easily… Only a month before he gave you a mission… that’s… Incredible.” Veronica leaned back into her seat. Bastion sighed. “Well, it’s alright, I knew that Korreal wasn’t a place that I wanted to spend my whole life anyway. I'm happy I took this route. Anyway, skip the serious stuff for a bit, I’d rather talk about you” Bastion said, smiling. He took a look at the newspaper near him. “Still nothing going on in the world… Crap about pop celebrities… awful music”
”I’ve read things about those people… why are they popular? Because they can sing?” Veronica asked, bemused.
”Yes. Well, no, it’s because they’re nice looking and they don’t sound awful, that’s why. There’s a bunch of ugly people that can sing FAR better than these guys. Yet, they pay these fools loads of money for their awful music, while girls scream and throw their knickers at them.” Bastion said.
”Must you be so vulgar?” Veronica asked.
”Well, yes, when I'm talking about idiots getting fame and wealth who actually don’t deserve it all that much. I mean, there’s far better uses to people’s money. Ah, whatever, who cares.” Bastion said.
“I think you’d make an alright leader.” Veronica said.
”That must be the first time you’ve ever complimented me.” Bastion said, yawning and stretching.
“You know what I don’t get?” Veronica asked.
“What?” Bastion answered.
“Most of this is... American.” Veronica said.
“Yeah, I suppose it is...” Bastion said. “It’s human stuff, don’t worry about it. By the way, you don’t talk much about the Magi in America.” Bastion whispered. The attendant that was around had gone into the back, and there was too much stuff going on around the counter for anyone to hear their seemingly odd conversation.
“There’s not much to tell.” Veronica said.
“Go on. I’m interested.” Bastion said. “Nobody would really talk about them back in Korreal.”
“It’s controversial to take a side in what’s happening in America around Magi from the UK.” Veronica said. “When the ‘new world’ was discovered centuries ago, many flocked to be a part of it. Magi were among the first to get there, and they created a group called the ‘Seneschal’. It was more like a family employing Vampires. From all the different races flocking there, there were very many different cultures colliding. Those that were from another culture that became Magi banded together, creating clans and gangs. Over time, many different groups were formed, and the Seneschal was in charge of keeping them all under control, and keeping the Vampire under the radar.”
“I can’t help but notice you’re calling them ‘Vampire’.” Bastion said.
“That’s because... they’ve thrown away their Magi title and perverted themselves.” Veronica said. “Not that I see the Magi as superior or anything. I’ve never really felt a part of any side. Seneschal became so powerful that it no longer needed to heed the Magi’s orders, and the Magi in Britain were split into two factions that disagreed with each other anyway. Seneschal made their own rules after that, and dubbed them as ‘tenets’. The most controversial act they committed, which made the Magi fall out of love with them, is that they lifted the ban on drinking human blood, and created a rule to make sure the human is incapacitated beforehand, or to make sure they were killed in the process. If you disobeyed a tenet, you were to come before the Seneschal for trial. If you failed to appear, assassins were sent after you. That’s somewhat similar to the system Rhenium has, where powerful and trusted Magi are sent to highly populated areas to watch for rogue, or untrustworthy Magi.”
“Sounds pretty hardcore.” Bastion says. “How do they feel about the Cazrians?”
“From what I hear... they don’t.” Veronica said. “They seem to not care about Cazria or anything like that. They just go about their lives. The ones that do care, usually come to join one of the factions.”
“Well, ain’t that special.” Bastion said, looking at the newspaper again. “Kind of envy them a little.”
“Well, there’s always Drama over there, although the news is always exclusive and underground to us. There’s always some enraged Vampire on a blood high who kills some kids or puts on a show in public. Usually, when that happens, the Vampires twist the news and pin the blame on some brainwashed and insane human, and the perpetrator is usually brutally and slowly killed by the seneschal. I was thinking about escaping over there, myself, since there seem to be some rather interesting clans, but drinking human blood doesn’t seem all that appealing.”
“No shit.” Bastion said, stretching. “Though, for me, that wou-“ Bastion was interrupted by a sharp pain across his right hand. He yelled, and jumped out of his seat, clutching his hand. Blood oozed out of a gash on his hand, and it bled more than he thought a gash would. Veronica was startled, and also got up out of her seat, glaring at the attacker. Only, the person who made the gash didn’t seem to be an enemy. In fact, she appeared to be a young girl. She screeched along with Bastion when she realised what she had done. “Ahh!” She screamed. “Oh no! I’m sorry!”
”You OK now?” The girl asked, beaming a big smile at Bastion. Bastion had covered the wound on the back of his hand with the girl’s cloth. The gash was sort of deep, but it was nothing that couldn’t be healed by magic. “Gimme, gimme!” The girl commanded. She had a Japanese accent, but Bastion got the impression that it was too stereotypical. Probably because he had a teacher from Okinawa. She had two ponytails, and she was obviously very young. She was about 13, by Bastion’s estimation. She had cute ‘Hellokitty’ clothes and accessories on her, which added to the whole stereotype. Bastion gave the cloth back, and replaced it. “Thanks…” Bastion said, a little on edge.
”Aren’t you supposed to be in school or something?” Veronica asked, obviously a little bothered by her presence. “Waaah???” The girl whined. “You’re a big meany!”
”Chill, Veronica, she’s just a kid.” Bastion said.
”You too?? Awww…” The girl said.
”Sorry, hehe. I'm Ba- Sebastian. This is, of course, Veronica. She’s really just a softie when you get to know her.” Bastion chuckled, earning himself a glare.
”I'm… Well, I don’t have a name! I use a sorta codename, like you guys! Magi forever!” the girl shouted, jumping to her feet, making a scene. “The hell are you doing!? Sit down, you fool!” Veronica hissed. “What did she say, anyway? I can’t understand her.”
”She sort of just shouted ‘Magi forever’…” Bastion whispered. “She’s one of us.” The girl sat down again, smiling at Bastion. “My name is Hime!” She said.
”Hime? You mean, as in ‘Princess’ in Japanese?” Bastion asked.
”Bingo! Wow, Mister Sebastian, you’re really smart!” Hime said. Veronica looked depressed.
”So… You’re a..?” Bastion held up his medallion.
”Yah.” Hime laughed.
”Where’s your pendant?” Veronica mumbled, life drained from Hime’s immaturity.
”Uhh…” Hime paused. “I lost it! I know, I know, silly me!”
”You don’t just ‘lose’ it. You could find it through Hollow Sight. What are you hiding?” Veronica asked.
“Ooooh. Your girlfriend is really feisty, isn’t she??” Hime laughed, asking Bastion.
”Wh… What did you say!?” Veronica shrieked, blushing again.
”Hey, whoa. She’s not my girlfriend, kid… Calm down, both of you.” Bastion said, looking around the Café at the entertained customers. “Oooh, no? That’s a shame! Bedtime would be sexy sexy time, if you were!” Hime laughed. Bastion’s jaw dropped with astonishment at what this little girl just said to him. He expected Veronica to explode in a rage, but all he received was shrug. “Wh-what did she just say?...” Veronica asked, still blush
ing.
”Oh! I gotsa go! Sorry! I’ll see you later!” Hime said, getting up. “It was nice to meet you mister Bastion!”
“Nice to meet you... too...” Bastion said, as Hime turned and left the Cafe. It may have been Bastion’s imagination, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hime simply vanish.
”Well… That was… Yeah…” Bastion said, exhausted just from looking at her energy. “Cute kid, eh?”
”Pfft.” Veronica said, in a bad mood now.
”Come on, don’t be like that. It’s just a kid!” Bastion exclaimed.
”She pisses me off. Hopefully, we won’t have to see her again” Veronica said. “She’s a complete liar also. Something REALLY off about her.”
”It’s just your imagination.” Bastion laughed, but Veronica didn’t buy it.
“That watch...” Veronica pondered.
“Sharp, wasn’t it?” Bastion asked.
“It was... different from yours.” Veronica said.
“What do you mean? Everybody doesn’t have the exact same watch, you know.”
“It was different from anybody’s.” Veronica said. “It was a 24 hour clock that told the time ‘25:32’.” Bastion raised an eyebrow. “Hah! You’re so sharp, aren’t you? It hardly matters, come, we need to get this wound fixed and continue going.” Bastion said, smiling at Veronica.
“Well then… should we talk about the plan?” Bastion asked, resuming their journey.
”What’s to talk about? Stab Dante and get the blood, aye?” Veronica said.
”No, that would likely be impossible. He’s deemed himself an emperor, and if we become king slayers we couldn’t possibly escape the national park alive.” Bastion explained, “We go on, we sign up with the Blue Magi, then you become famous for your healing magic to the point where you can get close enough to the emperor while I do stuff in the village.”
”Oh? Do stuff? You mean, do nothing?” Veronica huffed.
”No, no, I'm the smart one here.” Bastion said, receiving a scowl from Veronica, “I'm going to scout around, find a way into the castle and stuff. I really only just made the changes to the plan. When was the last time you used possession?”
”Back in your town.” Veronica said. “I killed the Cazrian with it.”
“You did?” Bastion asked.
“Don’t you remember? He seemed to be frozen in place in his final moments, when he was trying to kill you.”
Bastion paused, “Well, town was about a month ago, think you could possess one or two people simultaneously?”
”Sure.” Veronica said “Not for too long though.”
”Great, perfect!” Bastion said. “I haven’t completed the plan yet, but we’ll see what’s what when we get there.”. Unfortunately for Bastion, his ‘plans’ were to change really soon.
Bastion and Veronica close in on Split, after hours of journeying into the heart of the ‘peaceful’ National Park. However, they notice something odd as it begins to come into view. There were a few people in odd clothing as they began to close in. People wearing odd, old clothing were common around areas of beauty and freedom such as the national park, or the countryside, but Bastion had known better than to think they were normal people. There were men and women, wearing gasmasks around the perimeter of the settlement, and judging from their medallions, they were Magi. The Magi didn’t seem to bother too much with the two, just let them pass, but it was strange. Why were they wearing gas masks? As they passed them, they began trekking down a hill, in direction of the settlement. Oddly enough, there were rows and rows of tents outside the actual settlement of Split that they ended up having to trek through. The atmosphere that was emanating from the tents was easily readable. It was sorrow, fear, anger. This place felt wrong. From here, they could see over the walls of Split, although, it was obvious that the area was shielded with an illusion spell. They continued towards the settlement, getting a better look of the place. From the outside, it seemed that the stories of the whole Blue Magi barbarian camps were evolved from only slightly. This place still has siege protection from the olden days, big wooden walls with ledges for the archers to fire from, and a reinforced door to protect from battering rams. It looked like a picture from a history book. The outside walls of wood, were worn out, and were all chipped. Of course, it was held together by magic, otherwise it would have been a mystery. Inside, there were many, many tents, and the only thing he could see from there that was a difference from the rest of the settlements he had heard about was a moat and a castle. Even as the pair descended down the hill, the view of the castle never left their line of sight, although the tents did. They made their way toward the main gates, where two guards were standing. There was a lot of shouting and chaos to be overheard among the village behind the walls. From what Bastion could piece together from the outside, it seemed that there were wounded being treated. But it sounded pretty severe. They approached the guards. “Sorry, private property.” The Magi guard said, dismissively.
”Actually, we’re here to defect. We have our papers here, and we’re here to see a… uhh...Captain Stark.” Bastion said. The two guards looked at each other.
”Com’ back later.” Another guard said. They both had thick accents, and they sounded like peasants from the past. Bastion found this odd, since the residents of Korreal sounded like nobles. “What do you mean ‘come back later’? We’ve travelled for miles!” Veronica exclaimed.
”Not mah problem.” The guard says.
”The hell it isn’t. Why can’t we enter?” Bastion asked.
”Jus’ piss off, willya?” The guard said, getting angry. “Go defect somew’re else, ya zealous cowards.”
”No, you cretin! We’re here on orders of Rhenium!” Veronica said.
”To the bog with Rhenium, and yah corpses will too, if ya’ keep this up!” The other guard shouted, losing patience.
”Can you at least tell us why we can’t enter?” Bastion asked. The second guard, obviously tired of Bastion’s bleating, walked up to him and shoved him backwards. This startled Bastion, but he maintained his balance. “The hell?” Bastion asked, but out of nowhere, a force knocked the guard through a hole in the gate, startling the other one, who rushes to his aid. It took a couple of seconds to register, but it was obvious that the attacker was Veronica, who casted Aether, an air bolt, which knocked him backwards with an insane amount of force. “Hey, what the!” Bastion shouted, startled, though he stopped when he saw Veronica just as shocked as he was. Then, the two heard cries of anger fill up the village. “Perhaps we should go…” Veronica said, still startled.
”Didn’t come all this way for nothing. Stay here.” Bastion said, climbing through the hole.
”Wait!” Veronica shouted, but Bastion had already jumped through the hole as if it were a portal into the past.
On the other side of this fortress was a heap of mess, and the stench of complete indignity. The stench was not normal, it wasn’t something that you gain even by not showering your whole life. He had smelt this before. He smelt decomposition of bodies, like in the tunnels. It wasn’t an experience he ever wanted to revisit, and this time, it was a whole lot worse. “Whot the bloody ‘ell is going on!?” A man in a gasmask shouted, running to the guard who was grabbing his arm in pain. “He broke me arm! Him! He’s wit tha Reds, he is!” The guard shouted, pointing at Bastion. “Wait, I'm defecting! He, uhh… this was an accident!” Bastion shouted. A crowd was gathering at the sound of ‘the reds’. “Just what we need! Another damned spy entering a ranks! We should kill him!” A woman shouted. The crowd cheered.
”’old on! ‘old on! He’s just a boy! I bet ‘e ‘asnt even grown ball-hair yet!” A man with white hair, in overalls shouted. “Leave him be!”
”To the bogs with that! We’s always been too soft! We shoulda killed the Red zealots long ago!” Another man shouted. “Yeah!” Another one shouted. “I agree!”.
”He has an accomplice! Another whore to spread Tartarus among our men!” The first
woman shouted. Bastion turned around to see Veronica climbing through the gate. “The hell are you doing??” He hissed, angrily. “The hell did I tell you! Look what you’ve done!”
”I'm sorry… I…” Veronica said. Bastion whirled around, ignoring her after the cries for their deaths got louder. “Wait! Wait! I have papers and our medallions! We really have come to defect! Don’t attack us!” Bastion shouted.
”Ta the bogs with you, Warlock!” The first woman shouted.
”Veronica… run… quick, back through the hole, I’ll cover you…” Bastion hissed, as the crowd seriously started to consider killing them. Weapons were out. “Wha… no, no I can’t!” Veronica said, and as Bastion was going to snap at her, a roar echoed throughout the village. The fact that the guard was injured, and the fact that they had marked the pair as ‘warlocks’ was a deterrent for one on one combat, but the death cries and the bloodlust was rising as more and more flooded to the crowd. It wouldn’t be too long before they became confident that they’d rip the duo limb from limb. ”SILENCE!” A voice roared. The man pushed and shoved his way through the ranks of furious villagers, making his way towards the guard and Bastion. He had shaved temples, brown hair and a short ponytail. Only the top of his head had hair. He also wore a black facemask, and heavy leather clothes. The most distinguishable feature was his sword, caked in blood. Death had befallen it, and he hadn’t even cleaned it. “Who are you?” The man hissed, facing up to Bastion. He had a cockney accent. Veronica stood by Bastion’s side. “I'm Bastion… T-this is Veronica. We’re from the Red Magi, we’ve come to defect… “ Bastion paused to give the man the envelopes. “we have seals and our medallions and everything… we’re loo-“
”Shut up, I'm the man you’re looking for.” The man said, looking at the seals. Bastion crossed his fingers, face sweating. The man looked back at him with glaring, angry eyes, piercing his skull. It was only for a couple of moments, but Bastion could feel these moments for an age. This man intimidated him. The villagers? Not so much, although they could all fight well, Bastion defeated an Archmage. He could hold them off till he could run, or something, but this man? He doubted his abilities. He intimidated Bastion greatly. He was in an extremely foul mood, and Bastion was about to experience exactly how foul.
