Our Past, Present, and Future

Meet my Comrades

So Dindraine D. Grandiere wasn't a bad fighter, or girl. I honestly thought she was going to be some filthy rich brat, covered in specially tailored silk clothes. Also, a kid who knew nothing of the outside world. Turned out I was completely wrong, she was the exact opposite of what I imagined her to be. From what I saw, she acted aloof and probably didn't even care about her status of the possible heir to the throne. When I crouched on the windowsill of her room, I noticed her looking straight at me. I tried erasing her memories of me and turned myself invisible. But it didn't work. That's never happened before, she was seemingly immune to Magik. Or maybe I didn't do it properly, which has never happened either. So I completely gave up on trying to figure out what was going on. When her blade was pointed at my throat, I froze. I couldn't do anything, for the first time. I instantly knew she was ready to kill me there, on that spot at that time. As we talked, I found I liked her, she was nice, really, so I didn't see the harm in recruiting her to the Exercitus.

I started wondering about her brothers. If I remembered correctly, Aurelius Lionel was the eldest son and the eldest of the heirs. Rumors say he's pretty powerful. Next came the most probable heir to the throne, Mordred Portunus. Apparently, he has pretty good control over his Magic Power and Spirit Particles. And the eldest daughter came next, Elaine Caeros, said to have the widest range of knowledge. Then there was Ibliss D. Grandiere and Skirnir Blumenthal. I heard Grandiere's were the elder of a set of twins, and Blumenthal's were the younger. They are undefeated in any battle, which makes them very wanted on the battlefield as an ally. Then Dindraine and Pellanor Blumenthal come last. Pellanor is said to be the smartest, but not cunning or sly. But I had no data on Dindraine's abilities. I've only heard rumors about her, which all turned out to be wrong. Some rumors were that she never existed in the first place. It was just that the Royal Family wanted to show they had fighters on their side. I simply thought she wasn't a fighter so she didn't get herself a reputation, turns out, she's good. I knew the rest all had the minimal physical abilities or more, but of course, no data on Dindraine. I was honestly surprised when she had me at sword point, or more like dagger point, but whatever. I was completely awestruck to see a no-name person make me freeze up like that.

"Welcome to our hideout," I say proudly, my arm outstretched to the view in the exit, "the Valley of Actaeon!" Once I showed her the view, she seemed impressed, her eyes wide, and she quietly muttered, "Awesome"

I smirked, "Well, let's go." I stepped through the white ring and disappeared. I opened my eyes to find myself in the hideout, and my home.

"This place..." Dindraine started, "Looks awesome."

I chuckled quietly and said, "Heard you the first time. Anyway, this place's called the Valley of Actaeon. Apparently, according to the myths, Actaeon was a Greek god of wilderness, who created this valley of mysterious and unique vegetation and animals."

"You know a lot of stuff, don't you?" Dindraine remarked. I shrugged, "I read."

"There're books here?!" She said excitedly. I nodded in exasperation, "Well, how else would I read?"

She pumped her fist low, close to her abdomen, and saw her hair bob up and down. Her hair was a unique color, unprecedented. Black fading to silver, I knew her siblings, except for Mordred and Elaine, are all silver-heads. The rest of her features were similar to the photos of her siblings, except for Mordred and Elaine. Mordred Portunus and Elaine Caeros are different from the rest. I remarked to myself. As we were walking, I questioned Dindraine halfheartedly, half expecting false information. "Dindraine, I've come to realize Mordred Portunus and Elaine Caeros are different from the rest of you."

"'Rest of you' as in?" she asked back. "The Heirs" I clarify, realizing my first sentence was a little vague. She looked at the sky and thought. "Well, they are different." she stated, "We're not siblings in the first place."

"What?" It was my turn for clarification. "See, we're related, somewhere along the line, but Mordred and Elaine are my aunt's and uncle's descendants."

"Wouldn't that make them your descendants?" I counter. She shook her head, "No, my brothers and I are illegitimate children. We were never supposed to exist."

"Then 'the legitimate children's parent's descendants' would be better phrased, no?"

"Yeah." That was the only reply she gave me. "So, where are we going?"

"I'm thinking of presenting you to the entire Exercitus." I reply truthfully. "But they're probably gonna want to Initiate you, and that takes around a month. But I want you in our ranks as soon as possible so..."

"So how're we gonna do this?" she asked, she peered in to take a look at my expression. I thought for a while. "I'll have you battle the best in our ranks. But it's a little risky so I-" She didn't let me finish my sentence.

"I have a better idea." she said with a smirk on her face, Oh no, I don't like the sound of that. I thought unintentionally. I didn't realize my emotions must have 'leaked' from the mask. Dindraine started reassuring me halfheartedly, "Don't worry, it's not that bad anyway."

"I doubt it." I muttered under my breath.

"I'm just gonna go against people who are especially good at a certain thing. And I'll beat them with it." she said it so simply, I wanted to believe her. Wanted.

"So you're saying you'll beat someone with pure, raw strength with the exact same thing?"

"Basically." she replied.

"Impossible." I countered. She looked surprised, "Why is that?"

"Everyone is divided into different groups, Divisions. And each Division is for different kinds of people." I explain, "For example, Division One is for proficient Magik users. Division Two is for proficient Magic Power users. Division Three is for those who prefer to use their physical abilities. Division Four is the Division where the brains lie." I hesitated. Dindraine cocked her head curiously, wondering what I was hesitating about. "Division Five is for the people who have no preference. They can pretty much use everything, brains, physical abilities, Magic Powers and Magik."

"Hey, one question," Dindraine said, she raised a hand and seemed serious. "what's the difference between Magic Power and Magik?"

You've gotta be kidding me. I thought, completely giving up on this girl. "Magic Power is an ability only one person can have. It has to be learnt through specific and accurate instruction. Magik, on the other hand, can be learned by anyone."

"Oh!" her face lit up with realization, "Abilities and Magik! Now I get the difference."

"Abilities?" I ask her. Now it was my turn to feel clueless.

"See, around four thousand years ago, we didn't call Magic Powers as Magic Powers. We called them Abilities." she explained cheerfully. Whereas I felt completely awestruck by the fact she knew the old terms and not the new ones.

"When were you born?" I ask suspiciously.

"56 A.S." she said. "A.S.?" I repeat.

"After Start. I was born 56 years after the start of Goddess and God civilization. Well, thought to be the start of civilization anyway." As usual, her aloof personality was evident. "How are you alive now? I thought Goddesses and Gods can only live for a thousand years, at best, too."

"Got trapped in Non Tempus, a Realm with no time flowing, or at least that's what I think. Maybe it slows down aging." She shrugged, she was completely uninterested in the fact she was ancient. Not old, ancient. It was no wonder she knew Latin so well.

"But you've been here for ten years, how did you not know the difference?" I press on.

"The Rulers can barely do anything, they're too old." She started, "And the rest don't rely on their Abi- Magic Powers, usually Magik."

"Hmm, makes sense." I remarked. I looked up and smiled faintly. "Well, we're here."

We stood in front of a large oak tree. Except it had windows carved and a dull, steel door, around 12 feet tall. I placed my hand on it and pushed one open.

"Meet the Exercitus Novarum Praebituram!" I say.