"BAM!" Fortis punched the iron fence. "Who the f*ck took over our building?"
"It can't be either of the factions that attacked us. Most of their members are on the ground, and their bosses... wait, where's the boss of Echowood Retreat? You defeated Rattle, but what about the boss? What became of him?" Veda pinched his chin, deep in thought.
"Hey, Fortis," Veda called.
"What?" Fortis replied, resting his head and hands on the iron fence.
"Let's head over to the clock tower," Veda suggested.
Meanwhile, inside the building that once housed the Starfall Reach Faction, Emrys Arlorias and his friends—Aeron, Hector, and Corsair—sat at a long sapphire table.
Emrys leaned back, his long Odachi katana resting on his chest. The sunlight from the window behind him cast his shadow on the table, making his face a dark silhouette.
Aeron, Hector, and Corsair leaned in their seats without uttering a single word. The only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock.
Emrys stood up, walking toward the circular window behind him while holding the long blade in his left hand. He raised the blade in the refreshing rays of the sun which highlighted it's menacing sharpness. Seeing his reflection on the blade, his unlit gray eyes appeared to be staring at something a thousand miles away.
[Pause]
[Rewind]
…
Back in their early days in the boarding world, when they were 17, Emrys, Aeron, Hector and Corsair were assigned to the same hostel. Every day after school, Emrys and his friends would hear the beating of iron and a gentle melodious whistle.
One sunny day, they decided to investigate. Facing a garden of ornamental flowers, they saw a figure with a big straw hat, obscuring their identity.
Hiding beside a wall, Aeron whispered, "Emrys, what are you doing? They'll see you!"
"Argh, what's he thinking?!" Corsair quivered, pulling his hair as he watched Emrys approach the stranger.
"Tch, I can't believe you guys are this cowardly. Fine, I'll do it myself," Emrys said, walking toward the figure with a raised head and chest.
As he approached, the sound of metals rubbing against each other grew louder. He placed his right hand on the middle of the straw hat and yanked it off.
The person turned immediately. It was a girl. Her hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows were as white as snow as well as her eyes, safe for her pupils which were black. Her lips were naturally pink.
With a high-pitched voice, she exclaimed, "Wha— what's wrong with you? Give my hat back or I'll tell on you!"
'A girl? How come I haven't seen her around before?' Emrys thought, raising his right brow.
"What's with your hair? It's blinding," Emrys said, covering his eyes.
"S-Sorry, it's because of the sun. It's out of my control," her nose turning red from embarrassment, she turned away swiftly.
Emrys peeked through his fingers. "Who... are you?"
Facing him and stretching out her right hand, she demanded, "Give my hat back first."
"Oh," Emrys handed it back to her.
"WHIFF." She snatched it from him aggressively. "I'm Luna. Hmph." She folded her arms and closed her eyes.
The other three, still peeping, were immobilized. "She's... unreal," they soliloquized in unison.
"Luna? I'm E-" Emrys was interrupted as Hector and Corsair burst from their hiding spot. "I'm Corsair," "I'm Hector," they said, their faces red.
Sighing, Aeron slowly walked over. "Idiots," he muttered.
"You were spying? Creepy. Now I don't know if we'll get along," Luna said.
Corsair and Hector joined their palms. "S-sorry, we were shy," their voices shaky.
Emrys glanced at what she was doing before she was interrupted by them. "What's this?" he asked.
Luna quickly blocked his view with her hat. "Eek, don't look!"
From afar, four boys their age spotted them. "Hey, there they are. Let's sneak up on them!" one said.
"Where's the fun in that? Let's ram them!" another shouted as they ran toward the group.
"Sh*t, they've found us!" Hector exclaimed.
"Eek, they're coming fast," Corsair added.
"Damn, it's on again. If we take the normal route, we'll get caught. We have to scale this fence," Aeron decided.
"Go, go, go, I'm behind you guys," Emrys said as they ran ahead of him.
"Nice meeting you, Luna! See you later!" they called, jumping over the fence.
'Catch the thieves?' Luna thought.
Sighing, she muttered, "Do boys ever grow up?"
[Pause]
[Fast-Forward]
---
Veda and Fortis had reached the Great clock tower.
Located in the center of the boarding world, it belonged to no faction. The Great Chiming Clock disciplined students on their sleeping and waking times.
Upon arrival, Veda spotted a bloodstain on the floor. "An arterial spurt pattern, indicating a wound from a blade. Motion was involved on both sides. I think big bro did this."
"Look at that building to your right," Fortis pointed.
The damage to the lower left side of the building was extensive. They quickly moved to check it out.
Inside, they found a bird-like tech suit with a partially cut left wing.
"This picked up Klause during his battle with Rattle… right before my eyes." Fortis said, his facial expression was relaxed.
Veda noticed bloodstains around the cut wing. "Look, there's blood here. Linking it to the bloodstain outside, it was cut with a sharp object, likely Klause's blade. He won."
"Or did he?" Fortis replied. "Look at those bloody footprints. Whoever was in this suit managed to crawl out and escape. Klause couldn't land the finishing blow. The person must have been quite fast."
'As much as I hate to admit it, he's right,' Veda thought
They traced the bloody footprints to the back of the building, passing through broken glass, and stood where Klause and Zhòng Biān's battle took place.
The ground had large dents and cracks. To their left, a concrete wall was partially destroyed, with debris scattered around.
"One of them was sent flying to that wall?" Veda said, looking at the wall.
"What level of battle took place here? This destruction is unlike anything I've seen from just a brawl," Veda pinched his chin.
'Wait, if Klause injured the person in that bird suit, who did he fight here?' Veda wondered
"The news said Klause was beheaded by Wolf-bat from Shadowmere Groove. He uses claws, which can't create these dents or impact damage. It's unlikely it was Wolf-bat he fought here," Veda said.
"I think it was the Echowood Retreat boss that Klause battled here. My instincts tell me," Fortis said.
"I thought of that, but what if it was Wolf-bat? What if he had another weapon and caused this damage?" Veda speculated.
"Hmph, my head aches from all this thinking. I'm not built for this. Let's head back to our hideout and figure out how to rebuild our faction," Fortis sat, pinching his forehead.
As they were about to leave, Fortis saw someone, likely a female from the body shape, pass behind them in a blink.
"Hey! I saw you! Stop there!" Fortis shouted, attempting to pursue her.
Looking around rapidly, Veda asked sharply, "What? What's that?"
"A girl ran past us. She was holding something like a dangling stick," Fortis said.
"Dangling stick? What are you saying?" Veda wore a confused expression.
"Are you mocking me?" Fortis said, squeezing his forehead muscles and brows.
"Leave her be. She's probably a lone wanderer."
And so, they returned to their hideout to rebuild their faction from scratch.
[Pause]
[Rewind]
…
End of Act 1