Zara

---

Zara almost got run over by a horse on her way back to the temple. Weaving through the crowded bazaar was hard enough on its own, with hawkers and merchants at their stalls, calling out to try and sell things, and people wandering about with pockets full of gold that would inevitably be stolen by the infestation of pickpockets. But today was the start of the winter festivities, which would last for nine days, and there were about as twice as many people as normal in the marketplace and streets leading up to the temple.

Luckily vehichles weren't allowed near the temple, or else Zara would've gotten chewed up by a car by now, but animals ran freely, and unfortunately, a spirited horse tried to barrel straight past Zara.

Standing up, and dusting off her dark blue robes, Zara continued on to the temple.

The temple never failed to amaze her, with enormous burning braziers emitting smoke, grand arches, and walkways and lanterns. After slipping in through a side door (people were flooding into the main hall for the first night's festivities), Zara pushed the door open to the small antechamber full of priestesses, readying themselves for the ceremonies tonight.

"Zara!"

Zara grinned at one of her friends, Iara, who was in a dark blue robe, with elaborate golden jewelry dangling from her ears and dripping from her hair and hands, and, well, pretty much everywhere there was space for shiny things.

"Already ready, I see?" Zara asked, sitting down in front of a mirror, and searching through the piles of golden jewelry on the table. Thanks to the high priestess's ability to turn things to gold with a touch, they were never short on jewelry.

"Yep!" Iara exclaimed, tossing Zara her favorite blue sapphire necklace, "I was almost late, because I ended up giving the orphanage a few bits of gold."

Zara frowned slightly. "I know that it's great to help, but–"

Iara rolled her eyes. "Inflation, whatever, a few rings aren't going to do much."

Zara gave her a smile. "Alright then, just make sure not to do it again."

Iara gave her a thumbs up, and leaned against the wall as Zara fastened her golden earrings on. 

Once they were done, Zara checked the time. Three minutes until midnight.

"We have to get out there right now!" Zara exclaimed, her eyes wide, and she grabbed Iara's hand.

After rushing through the stone halls of the temple, Zara and Iara slipped into position, in the line of priestesses on the third floor. Zara could see Iara visibly roll her eyes. They were part of the group that hat to keep the fires burning in the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Zara had it easy with her power, but Iara, magicless, hated fire duty.

Below, Zara could see the gathering crowd of people down in the grand hall of the temple, ready for the celebrations and prayers that would go hand in hand together.

And then, Zara heard the slightest whisper behind her.

"Orion."

And then, the temple was plunged into darkness.

---

As a non-religious person, I have no clue how religions operate so ... I'm kind of making this up as I go XD  

Aster Crispin--

I had tracked the frost dragon all the way back to its cave on Mount Hoarfrost, where it was sitting, munching on a bone. The dragon was smaller than most I'd seen. It was bigger than a horse but not by much. Somehow it had already slaughtered all the cattle in the nearby area and terrorized the local villagers. Several homes had been wrecked by it.

I creep closer towards the dragon, crawling on the freezing cold snow. It melts into my coat, but the fur-lining keeps me from freezing. The dragon hasn't noticed me yet. I hold my breath anyways. Dragons have excellent sight and hearing, so it is almost a given it will spot me soon.

I crawl just an inch closer. As I thought, the dragon's ears perk up and it starts to growl. The beast stands, looking around, for me. I press deeper into the snow, hoping the tall snowbanks will give me a little more time.

But then the dragon spots me. It roars viciosly, and I wince. I stand up quickly, drawing my sword, ready to plunge it into the beast.

But suddenly the dragon falls forwards, not dead--asleep. There's a dart in the back of it's neck. Behind where the dragon once was is a person, but I can't see much of them from where I am. They wear a black cloak, and are holding a dart gun.

"Who are you?" I snap, stepping over the fallen dragon. This person has just stolen my job from me, and the money I was going to get for it.

"Calm down. My name is Aku Clandestine, I'm a local dragon trapper," They hold out their hand and I shake it. I hadn't heard of any local dragon trapper, but I also feel like the villagers would have asked the local dragon trapper to hunt the local dragon.

"Aster Crispin," I reply. "Travelling monster hunter."

"It's good to meet you. Say, do you mind helping me carry this dragon back into town? The dart's sleeping solution will only last a couple hours, I'd love to be back before it wears off," The dragon trapper says. She's smiling, and looking at me like I have to say yes.

So I do.

About two hours later, we're back in town. I expect her to take the dragon to the town's mayor, because he was the one who had posted the dragon hunting job, but she doesn't. Instead, she carries the dragon down an alley way.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"I get you're trying to get my attention or whatever--"--I roll my eyes at her--"--but I can carry this the rest of the way, by myself," Aku says. 

"That's not what I meant," I say. "Why aren't you taking it to town hall? Where you're supposed to be taking it?" 

"Oh!" She says, blushing. "Oh, oh, I'm not hunting it for the town."

"Then who are you hunting the dragon for?" I say.

"Mm, that's not really something you should be concerned about," The dragon trapper says. "Now, thanks for the help, but I've got to get to Epinoe. I believe there's a temple being raided right now."

"What in Fearann are you talking about!?" I yell. A few villagers stare, and so I glare at them, and they look away. 

She sighs. "You know, I really did like having you around, but you're awfully nosy." She makes a pouting face. "And, you have powers."

"Powers? What are you-?"

Suddenly, I feel something hit me in the back of my head, and everything goes black.

~~~

I'm super sorry if this is really long! Btw, Aster is in Snodekte right now, but I was thinking he could be brought to the Orion HQ in Vasilea? @Sybill is that ok?? 

Okay here's the charrie I will post later!

Name: Nadya 

Gender/Pronouns: female she/her

Age: 16

Where They Live: Stagyard, a large bustling city in Kyros. Relativley close to Vasilea

Job (Jobless is an option): seamstress apprentice

Magical Ability (DESCRIBE IN DETAIL): She can heal most non-fatal injuries but it is not guarunteed that it heals correctly. With training she can work on that

Weaknesses: When she uses her power she feels the injury on herself. She also cannot guaruntee that it heals correctly. Because of these things and past experiance (See backstory) she does not use her powers often

Appearance: She has dark skin, is about 5'9". She has honey brown eyes with some golden flecks only visible in the sun. She typically wears natural makeup with eyeliner.

Personality: She takes care of everyone and is quite mature for her age. She is rather stubborn and wants to be in charge and do it her way. Her patience is not good. She likes to do things herself. Uptight. 

Backstory (Optional): Nadya was born on one of the Foinikas Islands. Her mother was a doctor and her father was not present. He left after he found out her mother was pregnant. Nadya doesn't know much about her mother. When Nadya was 2 years old her mother had taken her to a park. At the park they were attacked for an unknown reason. Nadya's mother was shot. Nadya didn't know of her powers and tried to heal her but she felt the pain and couldn't she was crying. She then was sent away by her aunt and ended up getting adopted in Stagyard by Janine and Lloyd Chamberlin. They have a son whose name is Kellen. He is not that important to the story. Janine is a seamstress and she took Nadya under her wing. 

Other: Open to shipping with anyone preferably a year or two within her. 

Miralola-- 

The heat of the volcano's magma rose up and hit Mira's face with a staggering blow. The heat wasn't what was so harmful, it was the force of the gust of air that nearly knocked her off the rim of the Tualohi volcano. She stepped forward, this time bracing herself against the wind, and leaned forward to look into the volcano's crater. Red-hot magma bubbled angrily about 30 feet below. Mira whipped a heavy, weighted notepad and a similarly weighted pen out of her bag. She scribbled down observations and sketched the rock around the crater, which was slowly starting to melt. The speed of the melting could hold clues as to whether the volcano would erupt soon. This volcano, especially, out of the ring of volcanoes that surrounded her village of Kevranna, was notorious for occasionally supplying the people with a dose of fear, in the form of a column of smoke or a ground tremor that cracked flimsy palm-bark houses in half. Satisfied with her work, Mira slid down the side of the volcano, back to steady, safe ground. Her bag bounced against her hip, and she could feel something heavy rolling inside. Stopping for a moment, she reached in and pulled out an ovular, silver-and-purple speckled egg. She smiled and crooned to it gently, stroking the smooth shell. Then, she put it back into the bag and continued down the mountainside. Finally, she reached Kevranna. She brushed dust off her in an attempt to look slighlty more civilized, and strode through the village. Her goal was the village chief's home, but the kindly villagers slowed her process. "Mira!" the pastry-shop owner called, "I think I still owe you a treat." Mira turned to him and grinned, striding over to him. She was nowhere near as tall as he was, but her personality made her seem much taller. "I'll willingly take it," she smiled, "after my meeting with the chief." The pastry-shop owner, who's name was Xander, smiled back and said jovially, "Be on your way then, you rascal!" Mira continued down the packed-earth street on her way to the chief's home. Eventually, the sturdy, large wooden building rose up in front of her. She flung open the door and entered quickly, slamming her notepad down on the chief's desk. He looked up at her, a fond smile twitching the ends of his mouth. When Mira had first come to Kevranna, the chief had been a sort of surrogate father for her. As such, both of them were very fond of each other. He paged through Mira's notes and nodded carefully. "Nothing suspicious?" he asked, trusting completely in Mira's judgement. She nodded quickly. "Nothing," she confirmed. He nodded as well, and the formal exchange was over. "Treahl," Mira said, walking over to the other side of the desk and grabbing her notepad at the same time, "I want you to look at the egg. It's turning purple. Does that give you a hint about the type of dragon it might be?" Treahl nodded slowly and held his hands out for the egg, which Mira supplied willingly. She knew he would be very careful wtih it. The advanteges of having a tamed dragon protecting the village weighed too greatly against the possible dangers. He turned the egg over, examining it closely and stroking the purple-y patchs with curiosity. "If I didn't know better," he said wonderingly, "I'd say it was a mystic dragon." Mira's face brightened in anticipation, but Treahl waved a discouraging hand at her. "But, since I know they're extinct," he continued, "I'd say it's probably an ice-fire hybrid. They've been known to 'go purple,' as some accounts say." Mira's face fell, but she nodded her grudging understanding. "Now," treahl looked up, smiled, and handed the egg back to Mira, "I think Xander had something to give you." Mira smiled, too, tucked the egg back into her bag, and fled out the door. Before she could reach the pastry shop, however, the ground rumbled and stiff tropical air rushed past her face. Was I wrong?  she thought frantically, Is there a volcano I forgot to check or that I missed a sign on? She hadn't. Instead, a huge dark green helicopter was descending from the blue island sky, a helicopter with a gold insgnia on the side. "Orioin Institute!" the cry rang out, and Mira instinctively knew that, this time, she would not be able to get to the hiding place that Treahl had supplied for her to use in this situation.

*

Taking place on one of the Foinikas Isles. It's such a small island that there are no modern appliances/things/whatever. Alos, the Orion Institute usually (usually being the key word) pass it over.

Milos li Kohan~~

The needle wove through the fabric like some sort of seabird diving into water, somehow never piercing his thumb. The dress was starting to come together--though it still looked mostly like a rose with half the petals missing.

It was late at night, but Milos was still working. He needed to get this dress done before the final night of the winter festitivities, which gave him only eight days to work on it.

He started to thread the needle back through the fabric, but then-- there was a scream.

It was an ear-piercing, glass-shattering kind of scream, one that tore through the already noisy night. Everything seemed to fall silent. The needle dropped to the ground.

And then noise came back, and Milos stood up. There were no windows in this room--he'd requested it when the building had been made, but now he was regretting it--and so he rushed down the stairs. He burst through the doors, searching for the source of the scream.

It was easy to find---there were so many people on the streets, all searching for the same thing Milos was. A group of Orion Institute hunters were arresting someone---a magic user of some sort, Milos assumed.

He ran across the streets, which were thankfully empty or he'd probably have been hit, reaching the commotion quickly.

"What's going on?" He asked, pushing through a crowd of onlookers. 

"We're arresting a known criminal, for violation of magic use," One of the Orions replied in a monotone voice.

"I am NOT a criminal!" The 'criminal' shouted.

~~~

Anyone can be the 'criminal'. 

Zara

---

"Are you okay?"

The young priestess sat up in her hospital bed, nodding. Zara gently touched the bandages around her head. No signs of fever.

Zara was sitting beside the young priestess in the temple's hospital wing. After the flames had suddenly gone out, there had been a moment of panic. The priestess had gotten injured in the resulting confusion. Zara had sat there nervously, holding her hand aflame above her to see, and trying to organize the other priestesses. After a couple of minutes, the lights had come back on.

Zara still thought it was strange, but the high priestess had told them not to worry, so Zara had come to the hospital wing to take care of the injured priestess.

"I'm good," she said, with a slight wince, "my head hurts a lot though."

Nodding sympathetically, Zara gave the girl a small slice of baklava, wrapped in paper. "Here, you must be hungry."

The priestess took the sweet gratefully. After chatting with her for a little longer, Zara stood up, and waved goodbye. She had some business to attend to.

"Going to Vasilea, huh?" Iara asked, falling in step with Zara out in the hot dusty roads outside of the temple.

Zara nodded. "It sounds pretty fun. Last time I went there for a month the weather was really nice."

"Yea, well that was in summer. It's winter now, I heard they even got snow."

The high priestess had given her a surprise assignment this morning. Zara was going to the capital, as an assistant to the temple over there. That had been the case last time too, but this time, she was going in the middle of festivities.

Zara just gave Iara a smile. "What about you? Are you going anywhere?"

Iara grinned. "Your girl's going to Foinikas! We're going there for hurricane relief, to fix some houses and help some people!"

She would've much rather been doing that, helping people, instead of going to the capital's temple. Zara didn't outright dislike the temple. It was nice, in its own way, but it was much closer to the heavens and further from the community, with lofty marble halls and less community celebrations than Zara would've liked.

"Well, good luck!" Zara exclaimed happily.

---

With her bags packed, full of warmer clothing, as she would be going away from the hot climate of Epineo, Zara watched the landscape pass by as she sat in the temple's taxi service.

They had been driving for the majority of the day yesterday, and the majority of the day today. The winding canyons of Zesti Mera had slowly transformed into the flat plains of Kyrios, and mountain steppes lined the road.

It was almost sunset when Zara exited the car, looking up at the grand marble pillars of the temple. With a bright smile, Zara bowed to the blue-robed priest squinting at the setting sun. "I'm Zara Eleceed, from the Epineo Temple. I've been assigned as an assistant here," she said pleasantly, introducing herself. Politeness went a long way.

The priest squinted at her. Maybe he had a squinting problem.

"Alright then," he said, "Have you got your resume?"

Zara handed him a packet of papers, all her information in order.

The priest flipped through the packet while leading Zara through the grand high-vault ceilinged halls with marble tiled floors. He stopped abruptly in the middle of a hallway, looking at a page in Zara's resume. "You're a magic user?" he asked gruffly.

"Yes," Zara said happily, "I can control fire. It's very useful for re-lighting braziers and incense."

The priest gave a jerk of his head. "You'd do best to not use any magic in here. The Orion Institute doesn't like magic. Do your duties, and you'll get along with them just fine."

"Oh, alright," Zara said. It wasn't too bad, they probably had a good reason for doing it. Maybe the Orion Institute didn't want things to catch on fire. That was a reasonable concern.

Zara was guided to the priestesses' quarters, and, after setting down her bags, she retired early after a quiet dinner with some others.

---

... ok ok I'm sorry I just like villain arcs too much. Can Zara have a villain arc?? owo 

Ivy (Vasilea, Afternoon)-- 

Ivy sighed, rolled her eyes, and tried one more time.

"The Orion institute has power beyond what you could ever dream. We could make life very difficult for you if we so chose," she threatened the shopkeeper. He snorted dismissively.

"Of course. And I'm a sea monkey's uncle. Look, why don't you and your little band of upstarts take your threats somewhere else?"

"That's not an option at this point." Ivy drummed her fingers on the countertop of the back room. "You've refused payment a multitude of times, and we have no choice but to enforce it. That's how it works. You pay up or suffer the consequeces." She hated extortion missions, but the Huntsman always told her that her "prescience" made her more convincing. Like she could cough up secrets about the target and they'd hand over money.

It worked about as well as a broken tesla coil. And as explosively.

The man, meanwhile, was scoffing. "A multitude? Looks like someone's been reading a thesaurus. Just leave and I won't go to the trouble of calling the police."

Ivy knew when targets were a lost cause. "Fine," she muttered, rising. "I'll be in contact soon. We're not done yet." She offered a smile that she hoped looked grim and humorless. Turning on her heel, she pranced out of the little shop and onto the streets of Vasilea.

The city's decor was nowhere near that of her home-- her former home. Viktig. A few tattered excuses for banners hung from windows as decorations for the winter festival, nothing like the bright colors that lined the streets of the Ice Capital, as people called it. The palace had been similarly adorned...

Ivy shook her head to clear it and paused a moment, closing her eyes. Even in the middle of the day, it sharpened her memory of the dream last night.

Arthur, the Huntsman's proxy, had told her to look for a manor. The question of which one was answered by the vision. Five stories tall, with a green banner draped from the only second-story window, it was a brick monolith she wouldn't have trouble recognizing again.

Arthur-the-proxy had told her there was a group of magic-users meeting in secret by the manor, possibly with rebellious intentions. Ivy had been sent to investigate.

Which she would, with the help of a squad of Orion Institute officers.

She paused to ask a busker on the corner for directions. Knowing the climate was thoroughly against magic-users, she'd developed a few tricks to find what she was looking for without admitting her dreams had led her to it. She attempted one of these now.

"Excuse me, but do you happen to know which way to the... the big manor house? The five-story one?" she asked, attempting an innocent air. "I'm sorry, I'm forgetting its name at the moment..."

The busker looked up with interest. "You mean the li Kohan Manor?"

Ivy slapped her forehead in pretend realization. "Of course, that's the one. Happen to know which way it is?" She arched an eyebrow.

Catching a glimpse of her diamond earrings, the musician's eyes glittered greedily. She fought the urge to tuck a strand of hair in front of them. "That would be two rights, then a left on Phoenix Boulevard. You can't miss it. Want me to take you?"

"Oh, no, that's all right. I can take care of myself." Ivy turned on her heel with a shrug of distaste.

Inside, though, she was jubilant. She had only to wait until nightfall.

--

I was thinking Ivy could be one of the people arresting the "criminal" outside the manor. This takes place just before that. 

I'm sorry, I haven't really had time to post. I promise I'll post tomorrow; so far this RP is looking really cool.

Miralola--

Mira's legs started to shake as the huge helicopter lowered itself to the ground. Walls of houses flew off and launched themselves into the rotation of things caught in the helicopter's airflow. Finally, Mira came to her senses. She stifled a scream and tore off towards the village chief's home. Before she could even get so far as 6feet, a large hand had gripped her arm and was holding her still. She turned around slowly and carefully, aware that she had made herself suspicious of being a magic user as soon as she had started running. A shadowed face stared at her from the depths of a cloak that was the same green color as the helicopter. Mira swallowed and suppressed the urge to heat her body until it was too hot to touch. That would only put her and the village in more danger. Instead, she stared up at the barely-visible face, trying to regain her composure. "We've seen signs," the man who was holding her arm said, "that there is one magic user on this island." He leaned in closer to Mira's face in an attempt to scare her into talking, but Mira, who stared into the hot face of danger every day, was unfazed. "Are you that magic user?" Mira pulled herself up straight and shook her head politely. "No, sir," she responded. "And do you know who this magic user is?" "No, sir," Mira replied again. The shadowed face got closer to her's and the person flipped their hood back. His face was a mess of scars and deep grooves. He leaned in until his face was almost touching Mira's and said, "Recite the Orion oath." Mira shivered involuntarily, but she stood straight and tall just the same. She looked up to the sky and recited,

Orion constellation

Guide us as we endeavor

To cleanse this land of magic

And of those who harbor it.

The short oath was simple, but it got straight to the point. Mira tried her best to keep her magic from erupting out of her eyes. The Orion Institute member leaned back, dropping Mira on the packed earth and turning to his comrades, saying, "This one's not a magic user. Let's move on." The others agreed, and they left Mira lying in the dust. the Orion oath could be fatal to any magic user who recited it, but Mira had learned years ago to talk in a false accent around the Orion Institute so that she could recite the oath in an accent, therefore lessening the effects. But after reciting it, it took every last ounce of strength to keep her magic from bursting out of her with a vengeance. Mira lay there, unmoving, trying to regain her strength, until she heard the now-familiar sound of the helicopter. The Orion Institute was leaving. Treahl rushed up to Mira, lying in the dust, and called for the carpenter to help him carry her back to the chief's house. this had happened before, but only when she was young and hadn't known how to use her magic well. Now, she was much stronger, so why had reciting the oath affedcted her so strongly? The decision Treahl came to was that the dragon egg, tucked in Mira's leather bag and resting against the girl's hip, was draining her strength and magic in order to hatch.

Lucy 

I neatly placed my suitcase next to my train seat, and the train started. Earlier this morning my manager had informed me that I had to go to Kyrios for a buisness deal. I didn't really like Kyrios that much, but no matter. I opened the envelope my manager had given me. Nichols, Jack it said. He seemed very rich according to this information, but if anything went sour, I would know what to do. I smirked and sat back into my seat. Kyrios has better prepare itself for me. 

Note: Sorry this post is a bit short I have a lot of schoolwork to do. 

Charity slid the golden fabric under the needlepoint, trying to finish the elaborate stitching without it seeming too rushed. She sighed, pausing in her work and wiped the sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand. She had been doing this for hours, and the fact that she wasn't particularly skilled at embroidery only made the task harder. She still didn't understand why the king required new, unique banners individually stitched every new season to hang in the main enterance to the palace, but she couldn't complain, and neither did the other srevants working alongside her in the cramped room. Charity was about to resume her exausting task when the door slammed open and five soldiers filed in. On closer examination, there were only two regular soldiers; the other three were with the Orion Institute. The Orion Institute was spotted commonly around the palace grounds, but seeing them always made Charity anxious about her secret magic.

"You may cease your work," one of the Orion officers said. No one moved. Everyone had stopped sewing the moment they had walked in. He still waited a few more moments before resuming. "The King has issued a new order for there to be monthly check-ins with the staff of the palace to confirm that no magic users are in the vicinity."

Charity felt the color leave her face as he prattled on about the dangers of magic users. She tried to reassure herself that there was no way that anyone of them could possibly know about her, but her hands shook with fear nonetheless.

Finally, the officer pulled out a thick metal bracelet with a screen disaplayed on one side of it. "This is a lie detector. It will confirm that you are telling the truth to us."

Charity felt her hopes plummet to the ground and shatter.  The officer clipped the bracelet onto one of the servants on the other side of the line. 

"Are you a magic user?" the officer asked.

"No," the servant responded quickly. A string of code appeared across the screen briefly, and the officer nodded that this person was clear before moved on to the next person. 

Charity was rapidly starting to panic. She couldn't bluff her way out of this one. The officer moved down the line, until he was standing face to face with her.  He clipped the bracelet to her arm roughly. It was ice cold.

"Are you a magic user?"

Charity took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She dreaded what she was about to do, but what other choice did she have? "No," she replied. A different code flashed across the screen in an alarming way, signifying her lie, before Charity's mind clashed with the officer's. She reached out with her magic that felt stiff with neglect, but still warm, and erased the last five seconds from his mind. Nothing too noticable, but enough to make him forget seeing the lie detector calling her out on her lie. 

The effect was immediate. He tilted his head and frowned, as if trying to place what had just happened and debating whether to ask her again. If he asked her again, his collegues would have to question his ability to efficiantly complete the task. Charity knew that the Orion Institute didn't accept any slip-ups. After a few seconds he seemed to decide that she wasn't worth the time and moved on to the next person. Charity internally sighed in relief but tried to seem neutral on the outside. 

The officer finished up and went back to stand next to the others. "Thank you for your cooperation." They left out of the room one by one.

The other servants started working right away, keeping their heads down. Charity stared at her fabric, wondering why, even though she averted a disaster, she still felt like someone was watching her. 

~~

Why not just throw her in the action right away XD I'll try to post more later.  

Guess what, after two posts, I'm dropping out of the roleplay XD I'm pretty busy, but if anyone wants to take over Zara, go ahead! 

Evera~

I'm the first person out of the helicopter, gazing in awe at the sights all around me. The tall stone buildings and bustling streets are nothing like the quiet forests of home.

"Keep it moving," a voice says from behind me, not unkindly. It's Quire, the oldest member of our team.

I oblige, moving out of the way so the others can disembark as well. "This is incredible!" I say, bouncing on the balls of my feet.

Quire nods, smiling. "I remember the first time I visited. Quite the culture shock." They sigh. "Of course, that was not long after the war. A sad, dangerous-"

"What can we see first?" Sora interrupts, walking over to stand next to me. She, per usual, has no patience for Quire's stories- we've heard them all a million times anyway.

"We must report to the High King first," Quire admonishes.

A small band of Cavers (me, Sora, Quire, Vence, and Olia) have been sent to Vasilea to scout out a large system of caverns recently discovered below the King's fortress. We've only just arrived, and I can already see that it's nothing at all like Fyllo.

Sora bounds down the street, and Quire grabs my arm as I make to follow her. "Evera," they say, their tone low and serious. "You must listen to me. This is not the place for your abilities. The Orion Institute is everywhere, and we will be conferencing directly with the King. Please, use restraint."

I nod, showing that I understand, then run after Sora. She links her arm through mine, and we walk together down the road, admiring the architechture and crowds of people. Over the rooftops, we can see flags and the tops of turrets that indicate the King's fortress. They're sillhouetted by the setting sun.

"The fastest way to the fortress would be Road East," says Quire, consulting their map. "We'll want to make it before nightfall."

We come to an intersection, and I lead the group east. The sky is growing steadily darker, and the night is growing louder. The city seems to wake up as the sun sets. Before long, it's too dark for Quire to read the map, so Vence retrieves a flashlight from one of the bags.

"Now where are we...?" they mutter, turning the map to see it from various angles.

Suddenly, I hear a noise from down the street. I turn to look, but feel a hand on my shoulder. "What-?"

"Shh," Quire says, pulling me behind a parked car. "Orion Institute. Better if they don't see you."

I nod. Then, unable to resist my curiosity, I peek out around the car. Marching down the street is a group of people, most of them wearing heavy body-armor and all of them carrying weapons of some sort. A cold hand grips my heart. They're searching for people like me.

Without my noticing, my hands clench into fists. The ground begins to shake, and my eyes widen. "Wait- no-"

"Evera!" Quire whispers frantically. "Stop-" Their words are cut off with a grunt. I look up to find several of the Orion members standing over me, one of them holding Quire. Rough hands grip my arms and drag me out into the street.

"We got one!" one of the people holding me calls. From the side of the road, Sora sees me and lets out a shriek. Olia instantly grabs her hand to quiet her.

"Stop it!" I yell, struggling fruitlessly. "Let me go!"

A man pushes through the crowd. "What's going on?" he asks.

One of the Orions says, "We're arresting a known criminal, for violation of magic use."

"I am NOT a criminal!" I shout. "That's not true, I didn't do anything! Let me go!"

"You're telling us that earthquake wasn't caused by you?" another Orion asks skeptically. She looks young, and diamond earrings sparkle in her ears.

Before I can answer, another voice speaks from nearby. "No. It was caused by me." Quire raises their head and gives me a hard look.

Everything happens quickly, then. The Orions, after a quick discussion, drop me and begin to haul Quire away. The crowd follows them, and my fellow Cavers are swept away with it. Soon, the street is empty but for me and the strange man.

He gives me a searching look, then turns on his heel and walks back inside. "Come with me."

And, having nowhere else to go, I do.