Moonlit Crusaders

Chapter 1: Omega

Sebastian is running towards the main business sector of Defilia at top speed when he spotted a large crowd heading towards the center of the city. Curious, he asked a citizen why the crowd is going to the center of the city.
"Quickly! Hurry! A man is getting his gates opened! This is the birth of a new mage!" Excited, Sebastian's skin glows even more, Anna's spell still active. He jumps onto building rooftops and travels from roof to roof until he reaches the center of the city. In the middle of the city there is a stage that is three meters above the ground as the people of the city all look up in awe of the people on the stages.

In the center there are 13 mages standing in a crescent moon shape around an old man with a snow white beard and a purple robe with golden detailing. He is Barthélemy of Magnia Forest, the elder mage of the kingdom. In front of him is a man kneeling down on one knee, bowing his head. Barthélemy raised his cane into the air as he began to address the crowd.
"Citizens of Defilia, today we witness the birth of a new mage. Lord Corwin of the house of Ryan, you came into this world with riches and wealth. Do you wish to leave the life of a wealthy nobleman behind and follow whatever new path may take you?" Corwin nodded slightly as Barthélemy gently places his cane on top of his head, opening all the inner gates inside of him. Corwin's eyes glow a bright white as pure blue light radiates from his body, illuminating the area even more than the sun itself. The civilians are screaming out of pure excitement and curiosity to see the new mage. As the light dims down and disappears, he is clad in a purple robe similar to Barthélemy and in his hand is a book and quill.

Sebastian jumped down from the rooftop and asked the citizen from earlier why everyone is in awe of his book and quill.
"What!? Are you uneducated about the world in which you live, boy?" asked the man aggressively. "Well I guess I should explain. Whenever a person wants to unlock their mana, an elder wizard has to open their inner gates to allow the person to get their wand. A wand can be anything in this world. A stick, a sword, an apple, a cigarette, etcetera, but in really rare cases you will find people whose wands are books and quills. These wands are said to only be given to those who were born with natural magic ability." Sebastian is an awe of the new information and a smile is smeared across his face. Ever since Sebastian learned about the existence of magic in this world, he has always wanted to become a mage.

He sat down on the ground barely able to breathe from all the mana he felt eminating from the body of Corwin. Sebastian has never felt this much magic energy around him before in his life and is as excited as a little child, excited to see the ice cream man. He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder and startled a bit before looking up and realizing it was Anna.
"Hey, you're that Sebastian kid from before right?" Anna asked as Sebastian nodded. "Hehe, yeah that Corwin guy really is something special huh? A purple robe and a book and quill wand? Won't surprise me if he decides to become one of the Twelve Holy Pillars. I should up my game," Anna and Sebastian laugh at her playful remark, but the laughter soon stops when Anna reminds Sebastian that he still needs to buy the tools for him and his father's farm.

Panicked, he ran quickly to the merchant selling the rakes, hoes and shovels right before Anna's spell wore off. Whilst he was walking home he spotted Corwin. Excited, he rushed over to him, but as soon as Corwin took a step out of the crowd, he and Sebastian collided as Sebastian ran right into him. Corwin was enraged.
"Don't you know how to use those eyes of yours you damn commoner!," he yelled out furiously but then looked at Sebastian's tattered clothing. "Well judging from your attire, you probably didn't even get an education high enough for you to learn how to use any of your body parts besides those legs of yours,". Corwin raised his hand, holding his quill as he was ready to write down a spell to remove Sebastian's ability to walk when suddenly the quill snapped in two. The sound of a sword being sheathed is heard across the road. It is Anna the one who cut Corwin's quill without being seen.
"As the Holy Pillar assigned to protect the capital of Magnia, Defilia, it is my job to cut down all who show signs of injustice. Even a nobleman such as yourself Lord Corwin Ryan," Anna proclaimed. He scoffs and turns around as he grabs Sebastian by his shirt and lifts him into the air, warning him that next time they meet, he'll make Sebastian's life hell as soon as Anna disappears. Corwin puts him down and walks away. Anna immediately checks on Sebastian to see if he's okay. She sighs out of relief and hugs the young boy. Anna is a loving person whose heart belongs to all of the citizens of Defilia, her assigned city.
"Sebastian, did your mother never teach you to tread carefully around nobles?" she asked.
"Sadly not. U-um... I-it's just always k-kind of been just me and my father. I've never even seen my mother's face before let alone know her name. Oh! I apologize! I made the mood depressing didn't I? I-i'm sorry my lady!" the timid farmboy said whilst bowing at Anna. She simply giggled at the young man and told him not to worry. He smiled due to her reassurance and went back to his home to meet up with his father.

A few hours later, he arrived at his home on his farm on the outskirts of the city. His father is sitting on the porch, playing his lute, smiling brightly as he lays his eyes upon the return of his son. Sebastian waves enthusiastically at the sight of his father, happy to finally be home with him again after a long day in the capital. His father, Coleman O'brien is a veteran from a war that took place 17 years ago between the kingdom of Magnia and the kingdom of Olaurus. In that war he lost his left leg and his wand, forcing him to live with a wooden peg for a leg and to live without magic for the rest of his life. Nowhere to go Coleman came to farmland and raised his son Sebastian on the land which they now call home.

Sebastian went storage room to put away the tools that he bought at the market. When he came back, Coleman was playing a lullaby that he always used to play to put Sebastian to sleep. He asked Coleman where he learned that song. Coleman looked at his son with a smile as he answered that, that was the song he and his comrades would always sing after they won a battle during the war. Sebastian smiles and starts to sing along to the tune.

SING A SONG OF OUR VICTORY,
FOR THE SMILES OF OUR FAMILIES,
SING A SONG OF PAST ENEMIES,
WE WILL SOON RETURN WITH SAFETY,

AND OUR VICTORY SHINES LIKE THE BRIGHT MORNING SUN,
WE DRINK AND WE SING WHEN THE FIGHTING IS DONE,
AND WE'LL SING TO THE LORD AS OUR HEARTS BEAT AS ONE,
WE FIGHT FOR THE SMILES OF OUR DAUGHTERS AND SONS!

The father and son sing all through the night with jolly laughter filling the air and soon lay their heads down as they fall asleep.

The next morning Sebastian had a day off from the farm and his father gave him permission to go watch the jokers perform their street acts in the main city. Sebastian smiles widely out of pure excitement as he hugged his father and ran off to the city. As soon as he enters the market area he begins to climb on the walls and run in the rooftops of the buildings. On the opposite of the city lies the training yard of the knights of the kingdom and that is where Sebastian is heading. Throughout his life he wanted to become a mage, but he decided to not get his inner gates opened so that he can take care of his father and help him on the farm. He jumps from building to building as he runs across the city, swinging from clothing line to clothing line as he scurries across the capital. He spots a group of mages wearing dark blue and green robes and stands in aw of them. Each and every one of them have different items on them. One holds a crystal ball that he uses to create a map of the city of Defilia, another has cigar that he took a long puff of. The smoke leaving his mouth formed a bird that flew into the sky and past Sebastian. He thinks to himself Woah, his wand is probably that cigar and the other one's wand is probably that crystal ball. So your wand really can be anything. So cool!!

He continues to sprint off and soon reaches the training grounds of the knights. It is massive castle towering over all of Defilia. A group of knights arrive on their horses and stand in front of the gates, Anna is one of them. She lifts her sword to the sky and it begins to shine a bright gold as she brings it down and aims it to the castle gates as she cries out, "Latómia!" and the gates open in front of her. She and the other knights ride in as Sebastian quickly sneaks into the castle without being noticed and spends the next five hours watching Anna train the knights that she arrived with. He started to memorize the movements that they were doing and pretended that the stick he was holding was actually a sword, but as soon as the sun begins to go down again, he immediately snuck out of the castle, but ended up shocking himself when he jumped into the barrier. Someone put a spell on the castle to protect it from outsiders. He fell down from 15 meters up, but luckily Anna reacted fast enough to catch him before he fell to his death. She sighed when looking at how nervous he was. Sebastian jumped out of her arms, fell on the ground and started apologizing for sneaking into the castle. Anna chuckled slightly at him and told him that she knew that he was following them. She is one of the kingdom's twelve strongest knights afterall. He stood up when she offered to give him a ride home on her horse. It's Sebastian's dream to become a knight so he accepted the offer almost instantly.

The two rid across the entire city and finally reached his farm. Sebastian jumped off of the horse, but Anna asked if she was allowed to meet his father. Sebastian jumped with joy and immediately grabbed her hand and guided her to his father's bedroom.
"Father! You won't believe who asked to come see yo-!" Sebastian's words reached an immediate halt when he saw his father on his bed. His eyes were devoid of any colour, mouth remained open, there was no breath leaving his nose nor his mouth and blood was pouring out from a slit in his throat. Coleman O'brien has died.