The Tale of Mythia

(Thursday, 7th of Dawnstar Moon, 2021)

”Jack, what on Desponia are you doing here?! ” The girl known as Alice shouted at Jack while stomping over to him. ”You
e not supposed to be here! ”

”Why? Cause I lost all my memories? ” Jack asked the girl while pulling out his rifle and aiming it at the salamander.

”No, because you
e injured! ” Alice gestured to Jacks right leg, which now had a prosthetic.

”She wants to marry you and she can do that if you die! ” Rico walked towards Jack wearing a red panda onesie and a mirror wrapped around his right foot. In response to this statement, Alice blushed bright red and threw a piece of rubble at Rico, who dodged it.

”So is it just us here? ” Jack asked before noticing that the Salamander was charging up a fireball above its head. ”We should move! ”

”Good idea! ” Alice pushed Jack behind some rubble while Rico took the hit, or more specifically, he let the mirror take the hit, sending it into the sky somehow.

With that said, the three of them ran behind some cover, where a blue haired boy with a computer was wearing a suit and tie for some reason. ”Oh hey Jack, you look well. ”

”Jack, this is Zane, and he tried asking his crush out tonight, so thats why hes wearing the tuxedo. ” Alice introduced Zane. ”Unfortunately, Jimmy ghosted him, good news is that Jimmys car got wrecked. ”

”Hey! I was hoping Jack would forget about my failing dating life! ” Zane shouted with tears threatening to come out of his eyes.

”If it makes you feel better, we
e all failures. ” Rico unwrapped the mirror from his ankle and used it to look behind the cover. ”Nico and I are failures at education, Alice is a failure in honesty, Jack is a failure in socializing, and Othelia is a failure at arriving on time. ”

After he said that, the Salamander was suddenly struck in the chest by a missile, and all of them turned their attention to the source of the missile to see a sturdy yet slow looking mech.

”Are you guys okay? ” The voice boomed from the mech, and it was clearly female from the sound of it.

”Yeah, where were you this whole time!? ” Rico shouted as he wrapped his mirror back around his ankle.

”I was asleep. ” The girl inside the mech, supposedly Othelia, announced to the group. ”I mean, its 11:30 at night, and I go to bed at 8:30, so its obvious that I will be asleep. ”

”Why do you go to bed so early?! ” Zane shouted at the mech pilot as he continued doing something on his computer.

”Because I wake up earlier than all of you on a daily basis! ” Othelia shouted as the salamander rushed towards her with its first covers in flames, and it tried clawing at the armor of the mech, but the mech deflected the blows. ”Hey guys, any chance you all can help me out? ”

”Oh right, almost done! ” Zane pressed a key on his keyboard, and suddenly, all the fire hydrants began shining like police lights. The fire hydrants rose themselves a meter or two before they all began shooting out water from their sides, effectively becoming larger and more powerful sprinklers. They shot out water over a large area, putting out the fires and causing the flames on the salamanders body to disappear. ”And thats how you hack into a town sized security system. ” Zane suddenly realized that the water was getting all over his computer. ”No, my baby! ”

”F in the chat. ” Alice rolled her eyes before pulling some kind of wand from her pocket. ”Othelias mech is water resistant, but it will move slower, so we should help her out. ”

Rico jumped from behind the cover towards the salamander while Jack bean shooting at the Salamander, and due to it not having any fire to back it up, the Salamander was actually taking damage. Not a whole lot to be honest, the damage The bullets Jack shot looked like paper cuts on the salamander, but better than nothing. As for Othelia, her missiles did cause some bruises onto the salamander, but not enough to really be considered a viable threat. As for Alice, she began using some kind of chalk on the edge of her wand to make a magic circle on the ground in the middle of the street, and it was most likely some kind of waterproof chalk she was using, because the chalk wasn affected by the water.

”Rico, Nico, Othelia, Jack, I need you four to keep the Salamander busy, Ill summon a water fiend! ” Alice ordered the four fighters, and Jack wondered where Nico was, maybe he was invisible.

”Oi, Nico, how about some clones! ” Rico appeared to be talking to his mirror, which was confusing until four identical clones suddenly appeared around him. Rico appears to have noticed Jacks look of confusion, so he explained. ”My twin brother and I are magic weapons, meaning we can turn ourselves into weapons. Nico can turn into a magic mirror, and I can turn into a magic disguise kit. ”

”Got it. ” Jack slid behind some cover to avoid the salamanders lunge, as he did so, he noticed how long the serpentine tail of the salamander was. It was possibly a couple meters at least while the main body is 10 meters. Suddenly, Jack had an idea. ”Guys, I have a very bad idea! ”

Jack looked around him, and took note of how all the scorched buildings were packed together with alleyways dividing them. Within these clusters of alleyways, it was like a maze.

”Hey Salamander, you firey **! ” Jack got the salamanders attention by shooting its neck, causing a small bruise to appear on its scales. ”Follow me! ”

”Are you crazy?! ” Alice screamed at Jack, but Jack decided to worry about that stuff when he wasn running for his life.

”Yes, I am! ” Jack shouted in response as he began running through the alleyway, with the Salamander close behind.

As Jack ran, he was grateful for the grip on the soles of his boots, because it was wet, and if he were wearing normal shoes, he would have slipped. Jack jumped over a trash can before ducking underneath some pipes, all while the salamander behind him slithered past these obstacles like they were no problem for it. Jack turned left at the first entrance to another alleyway but he still kept running. The Salamander turned without any issue to continue its way down the alley, trying desperately to catch up to Jack as he ran past a set of pipes that were sticking out of a nearby bakery. Jack then took a sharp right to run down the alley, but as he ran, the Salamander began catching up to him.

”I gotchu fam. ” Rico appeared on a nearby rooftop and shone a powerful flashlight into the salamanders eyes, forcing it to stop for a moment before breathing fire at the mirror user, who reflected it upwards.

That distraction was long enough for Jack to make another right, followed by another right as the salamander continued to follow him with bloodthirsty intent. That is until he began reaching the parts of the salamanders tail that were still traversing the alleyway, so Jack jumped onto it and exited the alleyway just as the salamander lunged at Jack with its mouth open. However, Jack looked to his left and saw a metal pole that had a part of it flattened, so he grabbed onto this pole and plunged it through the tip of the salamanders tail just as the tip entered the alleyway and through the ground, acting as a kind of nail to hold the beast in place. As for Jack, he jumped out of the way of Alice and Othelia, with Alice finally finishing her magic circle and Othelia finished readying her cannons. Jack aimed his rifle at the Salamander as he jumped back before firing bullets into the face of the salamander, but as he did so, Jack was joined by the others launching their attacks.

”Aqua Fiend! ” Alice summoned an ethereal serpent made of water from her magic circle, and the being appeared to be able to control the water that was shooting out from the fire hydrants. This fiend turned the water around it into giant ice needles as they hovered around the being. With a roar, the water fiend launched ice at the salamander.

”Water Gun! ” Othelia appeared to have connected her mech to one of the fire hydrants, and instead of missiles, powerful streams of water shot from her canons.

”Clone Barrage! ” Multiple clones of Rico all began reflecting the light from the original Ricos flashlight, before the final clone reflected the light into the Salamanders eyes.

”YEET! ” Zane threw a brick at the Salamanders head.

The water and ice all hit the Salamander dead on with the brick hitting moments later. The impact caused water and a small chunk of ice to fall around the ground, and some water even got onto Jack. Jack watched as the salamander fell forwards before its face landed on the ground. Jack was about to check if it was actually dead or not, but Alice suddenly pulled his shoulder as her feind disappeared.

”Don worry you can tell once they die, just watch. ” Alice informed the man as she pointed at the Salamander.

Right before Jacks eyes, a glowing red crystal began covering the salamanders body starting from the heart. The red crystal covered every inch of the salamander before finally stopping once the crystal completely enveloped the beast, then the crystals all shattered into large chunks. Alice crouched down and examined the mysterious crystals before smirking.

”What are these? ” Jack asked while picking up one of the crystals to examine it. ”They feel…weird. ”

”These are magic crystals, a lazy name, I know, but given how they
e basically elemental batteries for our world, I guess the name fits. ” Alice brushed a hand through her hair. ”So…I take it you
e back in the game, even though you may lose your life? ”

”I still haven recovered my memories, but if theres something I can do, then Ill do it. ” Jack stood up to look Alice in the eyes.

”Why though? ” Alice asked when she stood up to her full height, which was still smaller than Jack. ”You could have become a history professor or something with your talents and made money doing something you enjoy. Instead, you
e choosing to risk your neck for no reason. So Im asking why you want to become a Guardian? ”

”I don remember much about who I was, but what I do know is that I love history, excitement, and staying by my friends sides. ” Jack answered in a determined manner. ”As for why I want to become a Guardian…I suppose Mythia is curious, so I want to explore Mythia. ”

”Heh…you
e the same idiot Ive known forever. ” Alice giggled to herself before that laugh turned into a loud laugh, and then a cackle before she went back to normal. ”Im happy to see that youve decided to go with us to Sanctuary Academy, but do you know your powers are or…? ”

”Um…no, I don . ” Jack sighed, and Alice nodded as the mirror around Ricos leg turned into a boy who looked exactly like Rico, except this twin was wearing a panda onesie.

”Alright, so let me catch you up to speed, you
e an archeologist, but let me tell you what that means. ” Alice held up three fingers. ”Your class is a temporal necromancy type, meaning you use time magic combined with necromancy. You have three main features, but it will take time for you to relearn them again. ”

”Can you tell me about them? ” Jack asked the goth girl, who nodded in response. ”Thanks, Ill try to learn them. ”

”Your main gimmick is the ability to learn lost magic and use ancient items without any drawbacks. ” Alice held up one finger. ”You know how in Sk*rim there are certain walls that allow you to learn new shouts? ” Alice asked and Jack nodded. ”Yeah its kind of like that, you just need to find somewhere with remnants of a lost magic to learn it. It will also reach out to you like shouts would with the Dr*gonborn, so youll know right away if you
e next to one. Good news is that you don need any dragon souls to use them. As for ancient items, just pick them up. ”

”That sounds really complicated… ”

”Don worry, the other two are simple. ” Alice smiled. ”The second one is vanilla necromancy, except your necromancy allows you to resurrect fossils to fight for you, and teleport them from place to place, allowing you to summon them. However, they can only teleport when in the ground, so if you want to make one go somewhere else, then you need to describe them and send them back into the ground. As for your third ability…Ill let you figure that one out on your own. ”

”Now now granddaughter, when did I raise you to be so cruel to your friends? ” An old man suddenly appeared behind Alice, making Jack jump a bit. ”Good to see you
e doing well Jack, in spite of your condition. My name is Geppetto, and I am Alices grandfather, and her current guardian. Well, the person who takes care of her, Im retired from being a guardian. ”

”Nice to meet you again. ” Jack bowed respectfully to the man, who had his hand outstretched to him, signaling that he wanted a handshake.

”The honor is mine, so I heard all six of you are attending Sanctuary Academy. ” Geppetto looked around as all of six of them began surrounding him. ”I must remind you that theres a reason the Guardians are praised. They sacrifice a lot, their friends, their lives, and their legacy are all at risk. Days off will be almost nonexistent for you guys, so I ask you all now…do you wish to become Guardians? ”

”Yes. ” All six of them answered in complete unison, catching eachother off guard but getting Geppetto to laugh.

”Well, it looks like the six of you are past the point of no return. ” Geppetto let out a dry laugh before outstretched his hands outwards. ”Then I welcome all six of you into the world of the Guardians! ”

(Elsewhere)

In the dark of night, only the full moon above a castle-like school provided light to the area below. In the main office of this school sat a rather large man, struggling with paperwork in the dark room. The dark rooms only source of light was the window behind the desk of the man that had the moonlight shining through it, giving anyone who stood in front of the man a silhouette to look at. The mans eyes were glowing red. He was currently looking through the files of a certain group of individuals from a small desert town, one of whom lost his memories.

”I guess this ruins Arthurs plans… ” The man with the red eyes sighed as he leaned back in his chair. ”Now Geppetto owes me a couple hundred gold coins. ”

”Not quite Headmaster Herakles. ” The newly dubbed Herakles looked in front of him, and a mustached man wearing steam-punk style clothes stood before him. ”Jack may not have recovered his memories, but hes still coming to Sanctuary with the others from Achisi, but he doesn remember any of his old powers, meaning hes completely powerless right now. ”

”What? So now I need to hold his hand while hes here? ” Herakles despised the idea of sending someone powerless into combat, not because he underestimated him, but because he swore to protect such people. ”I can send him into combat all on his own! ”

”I have a message from Geppetto about this. ” The man rose his phone in his hand and in response Herakles sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. ”The message is; Let Jack into the school you short tempered buffoon. Jack still remembers his parkour training, and hes not defenseless. He has some of the most powerful magic of all time! ”

”What, the ability to figure out how old things are by looking at them? ” Herakles rolled his eyes and went back to doing paperwork.

”The magic of friendship. ” The man continued reading off his phone.

”Thats a load of horse shit! ” Herakles looked through the files of all his new coming students. ”Still, why is Geppetto so insistent on making Jack come here? So he can win his bet? ”

”So Arthurs goal can be achieved. ” Geppetto emerged from the dark corner of the room, barely making Herakles flinch, but the man in steampunk clothes was surprised. ”Must I remind you that Cheng selected each and every student because of their abilities to turn Arthurs dream into a reality? What kind of friends would we be if we let his dream go to waste? ”

”Its impossible and you know it! ” Herakles shouted as a red aura like fire began enveloping him. ”Arthurs dream is impossible because of the weather surrounding Mythia. ”

”Must I remind you that we
e the reason those…demons are in Mythia in the first place? ” Geppetto asked as a green aura began growing from his body like a tree. ”Joan even sacrificed herself just so this plan would have a shot of working. All of the students are absolutely necessary for this goal, even the priest and rogue! Arthur is currently missing, and I have a feeling one of those demons is responsible! So we NEED to see his plan through until the end. ”

”Absurd, you made the barrier yourself, so if any of the demons escaped or did something that affected the real world, then you would have known about it…right? ” Herakles asked as his aura began fading, and Geppetto was silent. ”By the gods…I must mobilize every Guardian here and get in Mythia to dispose of tho- ”

”No! ” Geppetto disagreed with this course of action. ”Sanctuary earned its name for a reason, its supposed to be a Sanctuary first and foremost, so its up to you to protect the refugees from the demons, their influence, and political nonsense that could put peoples lives in danger. Even if the demons were able to affect the outside world, their powers are limited because we managed to weaken them, so we have time. ”

”How do you know that?! ”

”I trust in the High King Arthur, and you should too. ”