Heavy, rushed footsteps sounding like they came from boots rushed toward the two, interrupting their small conversation. Iago and the boy clinging to his leg watched as soldiers clad in black armor rushed forward, carrying various weapons like a staff, a gun fused with a sword, and a pair of long daggers.
Their black armor had one shoulder pauldron on their right shoulder with either gray, black, or red on it. Their left shoulder was engraved with an insignia, one that Iago recognized immediately. It was a cracked halo, with two swords crossed through it, each held by a fist.
'They're… the high guard,' Iago thought, disbelief etched all over his face. He turned to the girl, the realization evident on his face. Noticing this, the girl smiled playfully at Iago.
"There's my friends," she said. The soldiers rushed forward until they were in line with the girl and Iago, readying their weapons. The man bound in chains looked from soldier to soldier, a look of fear filling his face.
Iago continued to look around him in awe. He had only ever seen the high guard from a relatively far distance and it was only one or two members at a time. His ogling was interrupted by one last pair of footsteps approaching from behind him. Unlike the soldiers, however, these footsteps were calm, lazy even.
Iago turned to see one last man approaching. He was tall, standing at around 6'4" with salt and pepper hair styled into a combover. He had salt and pepper stubble under his chin as well, giving him a rugged, yet well kept appearance. He was wearing a long black cloak over black body armor with the insignia of the high guard etched into the chest. He was wearing a pair of thin framed, rectangular glasses that sat low on his nose, allowing his sharp eyes to peer over them. He continued to stride forward, finally coming to a halt next to Iago and the girl, eying the man on the floor with disdain.
"I thought I told you we were conducting a sweep of the area before we tracked down the perpetrator?" the man said, looking down at the girl. There was no disapproval in his voice, rather, there was curiosity to learn her thought process.
"Well… I was sweeping the area and I just so happened to run into this kid fighting our perpetrator," the girl replied innocently, batting her eyelashes at the man. His face straightened into one of exasperation, evidently having to deal with the girl's antics frequently.
"Your attunement is useful for tracking people down, but you need to follow proper protocol if you want to keep yourself and your teammates safe," the man said, laying a hand on her shoulder, "You could have run into a paladin or monster that you were unable to handle on your own."
"But Gabriel, I saved these two from the perpetrator here," the girl protested.
"An exception doesn't make the rule Vespera," the man, Gabriel, replied. Vespera huffed at him before turning back to the man she had wrapped in chains. Gabriel also turned to the man and narrowed his eyes before speaking.
"Joshua Martins," he said, "You received charges of being an Ashen, mass murder, mass destruction, and theft." The man on the ground, Joshua, looked up, his teeth gritted into a maniacal sneer.
"Yeah and what of it?" he asked defiantly.
"For these charges, you will face Summary… Execution," Gabriel condemned coldly. At those words, the other high guard members around them flourished their weapons, red glows enveloping each of their weapons. Staffs and daggers crackled with lightning, flames began to emanate from the swords on the guns, along with the sound of these weapons powering up.
Joshua's eyes widened, the threat of death clearly shaking him. However, he soon returned to a collected disposition.
"You can kill me all you want, but the wound in paladin society has already been opened he said," Joshua said, "And soon, society itself will bleed out, killing all who don't see the truth." Iago frowned, the cryptic message running itself through his brain over and over again.
Gabriel, Vespera, and the other high guard members seemed to pay no mind to what Joshua was saying, however. Gabriel raised a lazy hand.
"On my mark, execute the Ashen," he commanded, the soldiers taking aim.
"Steady, aim, FIRE!" he yelled. Immediately, various elemental blasts fired from the guns, staffs, and daggers, launching at Joshua and clashing together in a large explosion. The ends of Vespera's chains shattered, and the remaining length quickly retracted back into her body. She stood up straight, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow.
"And that's that," she said solemnly. As the barrage of attacks stopped, leaving nothing but a smoldering crater where Joshua had been, she turned to Iago.
"So, how about we get you some medical help," she said with a warm smile, "You look like you could pass out at any moment."
"What do you mean?" Iago asked, trying to play it off. However, he could feel his body quivering, his cells themselves feeling drained of all energy. He stumbled.
"Well, who's this?" Gabriel asked, turning to Vespera curiously.
"This kid was fighting the man when I showed up, I think he defeated the monster too," Vespera replied proudly, "He did a good job of protecting that boy behind him too."
"Oh really now," Gabriel asked, turning to Iago, impressed. However, before he could ask Iago any further questions, the boy stumbled backward and collapsed to the ground, his breathing, shallow and ragged.
"We need to get that medical team down here, NOW!" Vespera yelled, kneeling next to Iago and inspecting his wounds.
"You heard her, get a medical team down here and start searching for any other survivors!" Gabriel barked. As Iago's senses dulled, his eyesight growing blurry and his hearing fading, a faint voice within his head spoke.
"I… am… a… paladin…" it said before he passed out completely.
Iago's eyes slowly opened, a blinding flash of white light entering his vision. His eyelids were heavy, feeling as though they had been glued shut. As he blinked rapidly to open them fully, his hearing picked back up. A steady, rhythmic beeping entered his ears. His tactile sense was the next to return, the warmth and softness of the sheets he was laying on and under giving him comfort and making his eyes even heavier. He groaned groggily, attempting to sit up and stop himself from falling back asleep.
"Where?" he asked, his voice coming out hoarse and surprising himself. His eyes finally fully opened and adjusted to the light. He was looking up at a white tile ceiling with bright lights. He turned his head to look around, seeing a liquid IV bag connected to his arm and a heart monitor reading off his steady heartbeat.
'The hospital?' he asked himself, slowly sitting up. However, as a slight discomfort snaked through his body, he remembered why he was here. The images of the fight, the monster, and the man flashed through his brain.
'Right…' he thought. However, other memories also began to flash through his mind.
'Wait…' he thought to himself, his heart racing, 'The high guard, the girl, MY ATTUNEMENT.' His excitement picked up and he finished sitting up in a flash, removing his arms from under his blanket and looking at himself. He didn't necessarily feel any different from before, but he knew that something was different.
'I can't believe it,' he thought, tears beginning to form in his eyes. His entire life, he had barely believed himself a paladin, being one based off of technicality more than anything else. He could barely fight, nor could he save anyone. But now, he was propelled to the upper echelons of paladin society.
"Mom, dad," he said through a quiet sob, "I can finally do it." A tightness welled up in his chest. He had to go through so much to get to this point, but he was here. He clenched his fist. 'This is only the start,' he thought, steeling his resolve. He would need to train his hardest to become a paladin worthy of wielding an attunement.
However, his thoughts were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Iago looked up in surprise, only to see Gabriel sitting in the chair across from his bed, his legs folded, sipping on a cup of coffee. He was dressed more comfortably, wearing a black turtleneck, crisp black slacks and some black loafers. To the left of Iago's bed was Vespera, sitting on a stool, her legs crossed and her shoes off. She too was dressed more casually, wearing a blue fleece sweater and black jeans with a pair of blue shoes with stars dotted all over them.
"I'm sure that would have been a lot more touching if we could've heard your thoughts," Gabriel said with a small smile, sitting his coffee mug on the table next to him.
"I don't know Gabriel, I thought that was adorable," Vespera said, wiping her eyes.
"So, ermmm… how long have you two been here?" Iago asked, scratching his neck and avoiding eye contact with either of them.
"We've been here since before you woke up," Gabriel answered.
"You sleep very peacefully," Vespera commented out of the blue.
"Ahem," Gabriel said, clearing his throat.
"Yes, but anywayssss," Vespera continued, "How did you end up confronting the fallen yesterday?" Iago tilted his head in confusion.
"What's that?" he asked. Gabriel and Vespera looked at each other.
"An Ashen is a paladin whose soul has lost its integrity," Gabriel explained, "This causes them to act more on instinct and impulse, regardless of who stands in the way of them. They use soul energy and their abilities to cause harm to others almost exclusively."
"Ohhhh," Iago said, "I thought he was just a rogue." Vespera shook her head.
"Rogues are just paladin unaffiliated with anyone, though they typically exploit others in the temporal rift industry, so they're also on the high guard's radar," she explained. Iago nodded in understanding and then began to recount his tale. From going to sell his sword to confronting the monster to developing his attunement at random to finally confronting Joshua and being saved.
When he mentioned acquiring his attunement, this seemed to pique Gabriel's interest as he seemed fully invested in what Iago had to say.
"Awww, you poor thing," Vespera said empathetically, rushing over and hugging Iago to comfort him.
"Thanks," Iago said, "But that's really all that happened before I passed out."
"I'm not being investigated, are I?"
"No, no," Gabriel assured, "This isn't even part of the official investigation, we know who did it and the culprit has been dealt with as you saw."
"Then why are you two here?" Iago asked, confused.
"To check up on you of course," Vespera said, finally breaking from the hug, "And I think the old man has something for you."
"I'm only 42 thank you very much," Gabriel snapped playfully, grabbing an envelope off of the table and walking over to hand it to Iago.
"Oooooold man," Vespera repeated with a laugh as Iago grabbed the envelope.
"Open that on your own time and that too," he said, gesturing at a box next to the door.
"Come on Vespera." Vespera slipped her shoes back on and followed Gabriel to the door.
"Bye Iago," she said brightly, waving to him as she walked through the door, "Though we'll definitely be seeing more of each other soon." She winked at him and stuck out her tongue as she closed the door behind her.
Iago watched them go, a mixture of confusion and enjoyment in his body. They were kind people at least.
He looked down, opening the envelope Gabriel had given him. As he read the first line of text on the paper within, his jaw dropped. It was a letter of acceptance to the Institute, THE school where high guard cadets were trained and inducted into the High Guard.
"There's no way," he said out loud, reading through the text over and over again. However, it was no illusion. He had been accepted into the Institute. Well, more like being invited to participate in the entrance exam.
Iago clutched the letter tightly before roaring in triumph. The moment he had been waiting for his entire life was finally upon him. Be it by coincidence or some deliberate plan, it was here. However, before he could move on, he needed to inspect the box.
He stood up, pulling the IV bag and heart monitor with him. He laid the box on the ground and then opened it, his eyes widening in shock.
Inside the box, nestled neatly inside were two katanas. The scabbards were sleek and black, with crimson bands around the middle and end of them. He picked one up and pulled the sword out, inspecting it. The handle was black with crimson diamonds through the middle. The hilt was circular with two wolves chasing each other on both sides. The blade itself was obsidian black and razor sharp.
'This is an invitation to truly join the world of paladins,' Iago thought, 'A challenge from Gabriel to prove myself.' He slid the sword back into its scabbard, fully prepared to take the challenge head on.
As he turned to return to his bed, however, he noticed a note on the back of his acceptance letter written in faint, crimson ink. He read the message, its meaning cryptic.
"The flames of change are ignited. When you are strong enough to endure it, the truth will find you."
— END OF VOLUME 0 (Introduction Arc/Prologue Arc —