The night sky shined elegantly at this time of the day... As a castle far away from High Lagaard stood its solitary ground. Worn, seemingly ready to break structures were strewn around and on top of the castle's walls, the huge painted glass near the castle's peak gleamed from the moon's reflection cast upon it.
While the outside did not uphold the standards its rooms contained, it was more or less, shelter for the residents that resided within. The sound of footsteps was frantic, yet cautious... a door opened, as a Dark Hunter peers through the slightly cracked door.
Seems like he was in the library. Despite the sparse, yet separated candles and lanterns hanging around, it was more than enough to provide light as the man entered the room. His white hair easily contrasting with the dark skin, and eyes as yellow as the sign of gold... He looked behind him, motioning someone to follow him, as he proceeded to walk slowly through the library, as if trying to recount something.
A four legged animal entered the room, soon followed by a white haired Troubadour. Unlike most Troubadours, his eyes were the same color as the Dark Hunter that motioned him and the four legged individual into the room. Adding more to precaution, the Dark Hunter whispered to the Troubadour to close the door behind him, to which the Troubadour silently did, so as to not make any noise, before catching up with the short Dark Hunter.
"Are you sure running away is our best option, Riaels? We'd make mother and father angry at us..." The Troubadour inquired, as the Dark Hunter turned his head to the side, his eyes focused on the objective, yet still wanting the taller person to hear him. "Look, Akakio... I'm tired of mother beating the shit out of us with her whip and father's relentless demands which had dire consequences if we did not succeed them." the man known as Riaels began, as he stopped for a brief moment to recall something in his mind, before snapping his fingers in realization, and headed up the stairs, with the animal and troubadour following behind.
"Besides, they said something about us not leaving our room to see our sister at night... What kind of parents pull that kind of bullshit on us?" He continued, his voice entering a growl upon uttering the rest of his sentence.
Akakio gulped and twiddled with his fingers. "S-Surely, we could convince them to let us see her-" He began, before the shorter brother let out a disgusted sigh, before turning to face Akakio.
"Bro, we already tried! They said she fled from home without them knowing about it, and ever since, we've become their targets of aggression. I wish they would stay nice, but that won't fucking happen..." Riaels muttered, trying to prevent his voice from getting any attention beyond the room they were in.
He turned back around, as the wolf stood beside Riaels, as if awaiting orders, before Riaels finds the bookcase and started heading towards it. The wolf and older brother followed right behind him, as Riaels quickly switches between the books, before pulling a book that had a large "CLICK" occur upon being tilted, as the bookcase slowly opened to reveal a secret passage.
"This seems like the passageway our sister mentioned, judging by the note she left hidden for us. If things go well, we should be in the underground bay in no time..." Riaels spoke, motioning for his brother and wolf companion to follow him through, as he entered the passageway first.
"Come on, Tyro." Akakio utters, following behind Riaels as the wolf follows in pursuit of both him and the troubadour. The bookcase closes behind them as the wolf entered the passageway. The passageway before them was long, yet didn't contain much aside from well lit torches. A few stairs happen to be the only means of progressing downwards, but it was better than having to leave their wolf companion behind, or risk losing him to a jump that may prove to be fatal...
"This is the passageway she went through to escape?" Akakio questioned, having not been here before. "It was mentioned in her notes that she escaped through this particular passageway. All the other secret passages just lead to other rooms in the castle..." the dark hunter responded, making his way down the first flight of stairs.
Only the sound of footprints was heard through the long room they were in, as the two men tried to be quiet as best as they can. As they descend down the fourth flight of stairs, a straight path towards a huge tower on the side of the path beside them was seen at the end of the passage way. "This must be the back end of the castle... Only a few guards know of this location and are set up here. If we can get past them-" Riaels stopped himself, thinking he heard something.
"What is it?" Akakio inquired, as Riaels looked behind him, trying to concentrate on the sound he heard earlier. The rampant sounds of footprints could only signal one thing...
"...Shit. The guards are coming, come on!" Riaels cursed, grabbing the troubadour's left hand and started running as fast as he can, with the troubadour having a difficult time trying to keep up the dark hunter's pace, as their wolf companion, Tyro, started running behind them as well. They soon make it out onto the castle wall, running along the path before them, as adrenaline and a rush of worry came over the dark hunter, charging forward despite the danger.
"Can you stop holding onto my hand, Riaels? I can run just fine by myself!" Akakio asked, not sure if his younger brother heard him over the frantic breathing he had.
"Don't be stupid, Akakio! I can't afford to leave you behind for one second! Besides, those guards could shoot us at any second!" yelled Riaels, continuing to run forward before a mysterious attack struck the ground near the tower, nearly avoiding the attack as they turned to the right.
A male Hexer was looking in the distance, his eyes and head following the running trio. He points to them, as if issuing an order, and the guards behind him start making their way down to the castle wall, jumping down from atop a lookout spot to give pursuit to the fleeing members of the household. Riaels turns to see the guards from the secret passageway have joined the guards jumping from the nearby tower and lookout platform in hot pursuit.
"Damn it... Tyro, you and Akakio go on ahead! I'll see if I can do something about these guards!" Riaels commanded, as Tyro barks and runs ahead of the brothers. He lets go of the Troubadour's hand, letting him go onward.
"Be careful, brother!" Akakio shouted, before catching up with Tyro. Noticing a guard sleeping on the job, he quickly takes the gun from the guard's hand, and took out a Grimoire stone before stopping himself and turning around to analyze the pillars behind him, but just beyond the sleeping guard.
While the pillars themselves have gotten weak with age, it seems like a few shots will do just the trick. "Hope you enjoy going the long way around, bitches!" yelled Riaels, as his Grimoire stone gleamed as he pulls the trigger, shooting at the four pillars in front of him to the point that bits and pieces of the roof suspended by the pillars he shot starts to collapse.
Grinning as if he was overjoyed at his work, he pocketed the gun and Grimoire, before following Akakio and Tyro. The pillars eventually give way, as the roof cracked into a bunch of giant rocks, slowly building up a pile that blockaded the only path forward. "Oi, what nonsense is this?!" One of the guards yelled in frustration. "Those blighters are going to escape! Everyone, start digging through!" one of the guards commanded.
"Hold it, private!" One of the guards, dressed sharper and showed his status as the colonel intervened, marching right up to the guard that suggested they start digging. "Who do you think issues the orders around here?!" the colonel yelled, as the guard flinched back in surprise.
"U-Uh, t-that would be you, sir!" the guard replied in a panic, as the colonel leaned back and turned around. "If we dig through, we'll lose track of them! We'll have to take the standard means of entering the bay! Move out, troops!" the colonel ordered, as the troops did not hesitate, sprinting to their objective with due haste.
Riaels catches up to Tyro and Akakio, as the older Troubadour glanced him. "I heard something collapse Riaels, what happened?" he inquired, as the Dark Hunter whistled at Tyro and getting the wolf to approach him. "Took a gun and shot some weakened pillars. They weren't gonna last, anyway." he quickly explained, bending on his knee and stared into Tyro's eyes.
"Tyro, listen to me; I know you don't like being in water, so this descending hill at this part of the castle is the only way for you to get down to High Lagaard. It's not far from here, just follow the path once you clear the forest path straight through. When you get there, I want you to find our sister. This sketch of her from what Akakio found should be enough to get someone's attention."
Riaels takes out a piece of paper, and shows it to Tyro, as the wolf turns his head a few times. "Got it memorized, boy?" he queried, as the wolf barks and wags his tail. "Good. I'll place this sketch in an envelope attached to your collar."
Riaels takes out Tyro's collar, placing it around the wolf's neck, and placed the sketch in the envelope, petting Tyro's head after sealing it.
"We'll be there soon, Tyro. Keep our sister well guarded until then, got it?" Tyro nods, letting Riaels help him get onto the hill. "Now, get going, we'll see you in High Lagaard!" Riaels commanded, as the wolf barked back before making its way downhill.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to separate him from us?" Akakio questioned, as Riaels stood up. "It's better than having a drowning Beast companion on our hands. We know he can't swim well..." sighed Riaels.
"Now come on, we have to hurry, or the guards will cut off our escape!" he continued, not stopping for a single second. The troubadour followed suit, coming across a seemingly abandoned tower with a ladder going down somewhere.
"This will be our shortcut to the bay. Because for some reason, they decided a maze inside the castle near the bay would be a wonderful idea..." Riaels groaned upon questioning why a maze to the bay would be suitable when entering or leaving the bay. Akakio nodded. "Got it..."
The Dark Hunter starts making his descent down the ladder. Akakio gives him a couple of seconds before he starts climbing down too. As Riaels lands on the dusty ground, he quickly heads to open the hidden door, opening the way to the bay for him and Akakio, while blocking off the main passageway to the same destination.
"That ought to cause a problem for the guards while we prepare to set sail." Riaels chuckles to himself, letting Akakio pass by him to open the door to the bay. Closing the door behind him, Riaels locks the door to make it even harder on the guards' end to give chase to them.
Akakio sighed in relief. "Good, there's a boat left. It should be sturdy enough to get us to Lagaard." he noted, placing his beloved violin around his neck and getting onto the boat, grabbing the oar beside him. He glanced at Riaels grabbing some food from the nearby cabinet.
"Hurry up, Riaels! The guards could be here at any second!" The troubadour yelled, causing the dark hunter to jump in surprise. "I'm sorry, it never hurts to have rations to store for our trip to Lagaard!" he apologized, quickly stuffing the food in his bag before placing it on his person and removed the rope from the wooden pole, and got onto the boat.
Riaels grabbed the other oar as the two started rowing for their lives, trying to find the perfect sync to get them as far away from the bay as possible. As they make progress, they both hear the door being bashed against, echoing through the chamber.
"They're already at the door?!" spoke a surprised Akakio, as Riaels gritted his teeth. "Shit... row faster!" the dark hunter issued, the troubadour nodding in agreement. "G-Got it!"
The two of them rowed faster from their previous pace, not stopping until were got out of sight from the bay, hearing the bashing of the door get quieter and quieter... "Good... we've lost them..." Riaels sighed, nearly exhausted from all the adrenaline he had been feeling.
"It's a good thing this was the only boat on board... those guards can't swim for shit." he continued, placing his oar inside the boat, as Akakio did the same. "I hear you... swimming while also fighting tends to have no great benefits, especially in the labyrinth..." the troubadour chatted, as Riaels raised an eyebrow.
"The labyrinth...?" Riaels questioned, as the older brother blinked in surprise. "Y-You NEVER heard of the great tree that is Yggdrasil?! The giant tree that lives right beside High Lagaard?" Akakio gasped, leaving the dark hunter to blink in return.
"How should I know what a giant tree is named after? Especially with us getting abused, I never would've had the opportunity to known that such a thing exists..." Riaels sighed, placing his bag next to him, taking out the food that he stole.
"Might as well have these to help replenish our strength. We're gonna need to search every inch of High Lagaard to find our sister." Riaels began, lending some of the food to Akakio. "Then what?" the white haired troubadour inquired, seeing the dark hunter's eyes shift and placing a finger on his chin, feeling rather quiet for what seemed like an eternity.
"...Hopefully live out the rest of our lives in peace with her. That's about as much as I wanted to accomplish." he finally replied, grabbing one of the food next to him, unwrapped the foil, then started eating.
"I heard that here's some floating castle up above the Yggdrasil... Do you think she might be up there?" Akakio inquired, starting to eat the slab of meat in his hand.
"Pfft, I doubt it." Riaels dismissed, doubting their sister would abandon the castle she used to live in just to live in one above a giant tree. Though he probably also dismissed the floating castle segment of his brother's sentence.
"Well, can we at least conquer the Yggdrasil as we desperately hope to find her-" the troubadour started, before he saw his younger brother raise a finger to his mouth to silence him. "She's not going to be in the Yggdrasil, Akakio! I doubt she would live in a dangerous place such as that..." Riaels disputed, simply ending the conversation right then and there as he focused on the food in his lap.
They soon make it out of the castle's underground chamber, as trees of varying shapes now surrounded the river that is carrying them to their destination. Despite the calming nature of the riverside, one must never underestimate the signs of nature, for they can be quite as deadly as monsters themselves. The boys were in no rush, enjoying the food until they had their fill. The dark hunter decided to help speed the process by rowing the boat himself, grabbing the oars and sat in the middle, looking forward as he attempted to find the right pace to move the boat faster.
Akakio, with nothing else to do but wait and be on the lookout, decided to start another conversation. "I can't help but ponder why our mother just doesn't want us to see our sister..." he began, crossing his arms in contemplation.
"I've personally never seen her, you've only seen her once by sheer coincidence..." Riaels clarified, as he had never seen their sister once in his life. He didn't even believe Akakio because he didn't want to act out of line back then.
"But ever since she left, that memory has been beaten out of me... It hurts, you know?" Akakio sighed, looking up at the night sky.
"Getting hurt by a whip always hurts-" the dark hunter began, before being cut off by the older sibling. "No, not that... the pain of losing someone you never knew... yet you feel you're connected to each other, somehow. It hurts, having that happen to me..." Akakio explained, letting out a regretful sigh.
"...I see. I guess I can see why becoming a Dark Hunter just wasn't your forte." Riaels concluded, turning the boat so it followed the river's current to the left. "I really missed hearing father's smooth singing voice... He said he was off to explore, but never came back."
Riaels wondered, as the older sibling looked back at him. "And when we thought he returned, an elder War Magus told us and mother that our father had passed away. Next thing we knew, he was our replacement for a father..." Akakio added, as he soon glanced at the river's reflection.
"I can see why mother didn't want to re-enter a marriage like that, but I personally feel like there's more to this than we don't know about..." Riaels considered, "Because not only do we have a father to find, we also need to find our sister..."
Akakio took a deep breath before he sighed. "I suppose so... It's not gonna be easy, but I'm supporting you all the way, dear brother. And we have Tyro by our side." He commented, seeing the dark hunter nod in the corner of his eye.
As time flew by, the sky soon started to change color, as the sun starts to rise. Although the Troubadour has a hard time seeing it, he knows that morning is about to arrive very soon. "The sun is lookin' miiiighty fine today~" Akakio beamed, as the younger sibling looked at him.
"But it's only six in the morning, Akakio, of course the sun would come up at this time of day." Riaels jested, before looking to his side, and blinked in surprise at what he saw. "Ho...ly..." he stuttered, getting the troubadour's attention to look towards him, but then looked at what he saw.
There it was. The giant tree known as Yggdrasil stood ever tall on the city of Lagaard, as both males stood up in amazement. "That, my brother, is the famed tree of legend; the Yggdrasil! And what do you know, it looks like we're almost close to our destination!" He pointed out, as Riaels looked at where his older brother was pointing at.
The town of Lagaard was just in sight! All they had to do is park the boat over to the nearest portion of land or a dock, and they were home free! "We're... gonna make it! I can't believe we're gonna make it!" Riaels stammered, almost thinking that this was all a dream...
"Yeehaaaw! This calls for a celebration song!" Akakio cheered, taking out his violin and started strumming the strings on it.
"Heeeeere we are, only a few miles, from the tree known as Yggdrasil, off to find our sister that we don't know much about, and off to find our father too~" He sung, continuing to play his violin, before a sudden attack hitting the water and the land to the left of the troubadour caused him to stop in his tracks. "Aaagh!" He grunted, trying to stay firm on the boat as Riaels rushed to his side.
"Akakio, are you alright?!" The older sibling nodded. "I'm fine, but I think somebody's trying to stop us..." Akakio wondered, as the two siblings started looking around.
"From out HERE?! But I thought-" Riaels questioned, not seeing a single person in sight. Getting the feeling he was watched, he turned to see what was in front of the boat, gasping as he saw a male Hexer floating over the water, seemingly going at a slow pace to keep ahead of the boat. Akakio soon noticed, and let out a little shriek.
"O-Okay, that's new!" The troubadour exclaimed, having never seen that kind of thing occur before. "The hell are you supposed to be?" Riaels questioned.
No response. Riaels gritted his teeth, almost to the point he was making a snarl. "Gonna play THAT kind of game, eh?!" Riaels inquired, quickly getting his gun and Grimoire stone out, shooting a few fire rounds at the Hexer.
Something on the Hexer gleams as the elemental bullets dissipate upon hitting the Hexer, leaving both the dark hunter and troubadour surprised. "What the hell?!" Riaels yelled, blinking to make sure he didn't just miss his shots.
"Was that a Grimoire stone he just used?!" Akakio questioned, as Riaels tries using some ice rounds for the second attempt. Same thing happened with the fire elemental bullets...
"The shadows grow, and you have no hope..." The male Hexer finally spoke, his voice sounding rather perplexing and confusing. "Huh?" Riaels uttered to himself.
"What do you mean by that?" Akakio inquired, as the hexer turns his head to face him. "You will break, you will quake, at the things I know..." Now he was just starting to sound mysterious and foreboding. And being this far out from land might prove to be an issue.
"Enough of this nonsense!" Riaels aimed the gun at the Hexer again. "Wait, brother!" the older sibling yelled, moving the gun's trajectory out of but the troubadour moved the gun away from the hexer.
"What are you doing, Akakio?!" the young sibling questioned, looking at his brother with anger on his face. "If he knows our sister and father, he can tell us where they are in Lagaard!" Akakio insisted, looking at the hexer without hesitation.
"Please Mr. Hexer, can you please tell us where our sister and father is?!" He asked, as the Hexer gave him the silent treatment for a couple of seconds, before an eerie smirk appeared on his face. "You who look, but are blind to see..." He began, as Riaels growls and aims the gun at the hexer once more, the older sibling not noticing him doing so as his attention was fixed on the hexer before him.
"Stare into the abyss..." The hexer raised his hand above him as a giant orb of light forms above it. "I think he's more interested in killing us more than giving out information, Akakio!" Riaels declared, the older sibling looking back at him.
"I just thought I'd ask!" He insisted, turning back to face the Hexer with his violin in hand. "Time to end this show..." The man spoke, as he revealed a Grimoire stone clutched between his fingers, letting the ball of light fire right at the boys.
Riaels shoots the ball of light, seeming to stop the attack, before it divulges into a flurry of light beams. He then tries shooting those back, but as he ends up getting hit by one of the beams, the other beams start utterly annihilating the boat, and an explosion under the water caused the boys to be launched into the air, before plummeting to the water's depths. The Hexer retracted his hand into his robe, making absolute sure that they did not survive. Even if they did, they'll drown before they can make it to land. Believing his mission to be done, he takes out an Ariadine Thread, using it to make his exit.