Felix stared long and hard at the parchment he wrote on a few nights ago, as he stood in an alleyway 11th St in New York City. Felix's arch-magi robe's hood was up over his head to prevent the rain from getting on the parchment as he huddled over it. The parchment that had his handwriting upon, though he did not remember writing any of it. Probably because at the time he wrote what was on the parchment he was having a vivid dream, closer to a vision than a dream. The dream where the roaring voice told him of the calamity that was to come if the forces of evil were to collect the Paragons, (artifacts of untold power).

Felix was still staring at the parchment after fifteen minutes of daydreaming. He then returned to reality as he pondered his predicament. "I know this is more important than just me. And I know that my vision is true, I must do this." Felix whispered to himself, "but why in God's green earth did her name have to be on this list." Felix's gaze fixated on the words, "Raiya Mamushi," written in his handwriting, with an address next to the name.

"Well, here's hoping she doesn't try to kill me on the spot." Felix said to himself as he folded up the parchment and placed it in his coat pocket. Felix then drew a cross glyph with his finger in the air, creating a spacial rift. Felix straightened his magi robes before striding in through the rift.

The spacial spell he cast took him from the 11th St alleyway right outside the 66 East penthouse sky scraper, to the top floor of the penthouse where Raiya currently resided. The first thing Felix realized was the large party that was currently happening. The roof was full of people drinking and swimming in the pool as loud music bumped in the ambiance. Some people were throwing a brightly colored beach ball around, while others where huddled together near a wall having a conversation. Luckily, with all the people and the distractions, no one noticed Felix appear at the south end of the roof. Felix briskly walked over to the corner where the shed that contained pool equipment jutted out. Felix closed his eyes then concentrated to feel for the mana waves of Raiya.

If he remembered correctly she had a bright vibrant mana that radiated warmth. But as he searched the only mana waves he felt were cold, dark, conniving, and powerful. As he felt the waves he began to mentally map out the layout of the building. The mana waves were permeating from a far room a floor below him. Felix opened his eyes and drew another cross glyph, and walked through another spacial rift. The rift dropped him off inside a room that looked to be a fully stocked bar, only there were no patrons at this bar. The only person in the bar was the owner, and seeing her made his heart sink.

Across the room sitting at the bar, back facing Felix, was Raiya Mamushi; the person who he once called little sister. Felix had always been in the habit of suppressing his mana waves, and now was no different. Raiya was sipping on a small glass of brown liquid with, no doubt alcohol of some kind, with ice in it. Felix softly and swiftly approached the bar and sat down next to Raiya.

Felix didn't know what to say, so he just said, "Can you pour me one of those, sis?"

Raiya, startled, turned her head and scowled at Felix. She brushed a piece of her spikey black bangs to the side and let out a elongated sigh bemoaningly.

"The only person who I acknowledged as my brother died four years ago. And I don't give free alcohol to strangers. In fact, when a stranger enters my home uninvited," Raiya pulled a Beretta 70 from her inner jacket and placed it on the bar, "The only thing I give them is a free bullet."

"Hold on to that first part for a second. It seemed to me that you were giving plenty of alcohol to strangers up on the party roof." Felix pointed out.

"Those people are all under my employ, they are a part of my... organization. They aren't strangers." Raiya paused to quickly swill down the rest of the drink that was in her cup. She then leaned over the counter and reached her hand out and under the counter and pulled her hand back with a bottle of something called Crown Royal in it. She unscrewed the cap and filled her cup up once more, this time with the golden liquid from the Crown Royal.

"You, on the other hand, Felix Glasius, died to me four years ago. What I see before me now must either be an alcohol induced illusion or a haunting specter. And since i have not yet had enough liquor to induce said illusion, I must assume it is the latter." Her voice wavered a bit as she spoke, her hand was visibly shaking as she raised the glass to gulp down more of the intoxicating beverage.

"So what can I do for you, Felix's phantom? I don't presume you graced me with your presence in an attempt to mend bridges?"

Felix reached into his robe and pulled out the parchment he had written on in his vision state and slid it towards Raiya. She quickly put her glass down on top of it and sneered at Felix an expression Felix had never seen her make before.

"Raiya, this is important. I had a vision. The Catholic church, and many other groups, they are all going to make a big mis-" Before Felix could finish, Raiya stood up abruptly, tipping over the stool she was sitting on, and slapped Felix as hard as she could, putting a bit of electricity magic into it for good measure.

Felix was thrown off balance by the slap and fell backwards to the floor, landing with a painful dull thud. He hurriedly scrambled to his feet to try and regain composure.

"You haven't sent me so much as a letter in four years and you show up out of the blue because you need something? FUCK YOU!" Her eyes began to glow a radiant grey as her indignant fury swelled up inside of her.

"But Raiy-" Felix began

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! GET OUT!" Raiya yelled. She grabbed her drink glass and hurled it at Felix. Felix put up a quick ward glyph, the glass breaking on the barrier.

Felix grabbed the parchment and placed it back inside his robes. Then he made another cross glyph and turned back around in time to see Raiya reach for her handgun which she began pointing at Felix.

Felix shook his head and walked through the spacial rift which landed him back in the alleyway on 11th street.

"Well that went well..." Felix sighed and then took another look at the parchment. The next name read, "Nemo Smiley."

Why does that name sound familiar, Felix thought. Then he saw the location next to the name, Mamertine Prison.

"It can't be..." Felix whispered. "Only one way to find out, I guess."

Felix drew another cross glyph and disappeared into the night.

It was a normal day in a region of the Great Plains within South Dakota. Nemo sat outside of a gas station admiring the view of the plains. He really was out in the middle of nowhere right now. And that's just how he wanted it. He got up and turned around to face the setting sun. It was just about to be dusk as the sky darkened. He still kept his gold vintage aviator sunglasses on, after all, the tint was just a light yellow. The radio to the country gas station was currently playing "Joe Cocker - Marjorine" as he chewed on a candy bar and waited. He got a strange look from the old clerk at the register for his appearance. Probably the first time he saw a man in a suit jacket get off a motorcycle. But his money was still good. Soon enough the song switched to "Billy Idol - Rebel Yell", Nemo was having good luck with the radio so far.

As he listened to the song he began to hear another noise off in the distance that perked his interest: The sound of cars speeding down the road. And from his calculations it was quite the entourage. It seems his long wait was finally over. Nemo turned his gaze behind himself once more just in time to catch a group of cars speeding past the station. A toothy grin graced his face when he identified the vehicles.

Three black sedans, a white van, and a large black suburban.

Slowly but surely Nemo began to catch up to the party on his vintage blue and white Suzuki racing motorcycle. He sped up, closing in on one of the sedans in the back. He pulled to the drivers side of the car and accelerated a bit more. Reaching his right hand out and opening his palm. As he did so a ornate sawed off double barrel shotgun appeared from the X on his palm and into his hand. It seemed to be summoned out of some sort of miniature distortion of space.

Sensing a spell being used, the driver of the sedan looked out of the window to his side. His eyes widened. All he was met with was the twin barrels of Nemo's shotgun being pointed at him. Before the driver could react Nemo pulled both triggers on the gun, firing off both shots simultaneously with a lightning like crack. The driver's window was peppered with pellets, shattering, but not falling apart due to the laminated glass. Blood splattered up against the window as well. Quickly the car began to lean off to the side of the road before spinning out of control, now lacking it's former driver.

"One down..."

The group of cars quickly took notice to the incident, frantically shifting their position on the road to accommodate. The Suburban pulled to the front. Judging by it's actions and level of security, Nemo had it under good authority his two targets were in that vehicle. With his current weapon spent, he quickly sucked it back up into his palm with what appeared to be a miniature vortex.

The back of the white Van suddenly opened. A middle aged man stood at the opening, one hand grabbing onto a handle, the other clutching a small staff. He held it up towards Nemo and focused his mana. The crystal at the end of the staff glowed bright yellow before a similar colored energy blast emitted out of it and towards Nemo's cycle. He quickly swerved out the way, letting the attack connect with the pavement and leave a small crater in it's wake. Nemo started to weave his motorcycle in big left and right sweeps to evade the next few barrages. Eventually he pulled behind another one of the sedans for cover. Nemo reached into his suit and pulled out a black revolver then strafed out. He aimed the gun and fired, sending a bullet straight through the mage's chest. He jolted, staggered, then fell forward and out of the van. He connected with the pavement and then started to roll, causing Nemo to have to evade his body as he drove.

Nemo fired a few shots into the side of one of the sedans for good measure as he got up close to the van. He pressed his palm into the middle of the handlebars on his motorcycle, leaving holographic like sigil behind in the process. He took his hand's off the bike and let it drive itself now. Using the sigil to remotely control it like a puppet. After getting as close to the van as he could, Nemo stood up on top of the seat and rode the bike like a surfboard for a few moments before leaping to the roof of the Van in a rather impressive feat of agility.

Nemo caused the bike to begin to trail behind safely as he turned his attention back to the situation. There was now the Suburban in front of him, and each of the sedans at his sides. A passenger within the car to his left began to volley Nemo with small green magic blasts. Nemo put up a shield in the form of a magic circle to absorb the attacks. He then repurposed the shield into another ring shaped spell. Nemo held up his palm at the ring and created a magic X out of pure black colored energy and aimed it all at the car. Once fired the head sized black X passed through the ring and massively increased in size and speed. Now the human sized X collided with the side of the sedan with extreme destructive force, mangling the side of the car and pushing it far off the road violently.

As Nemo watched the beautiful carnage of his attack, another mage grasping a glowing smallsword climbed up onto the roof of the van from the open back doors. Nemo turned to him with a grin, holding his right hand behind his back and grasping the sheath of his knife. The mage rushed him and took a swing, something that was easily sidestepped by Nemo. He countered by drawing his Kris dagger and stabbing it into the man's chest. Before the mage could react, he pulled the blade out from his torso and slashed his throat. Nemo let him fall from the roof and turned his attention to the van now. He summoned two matching stainless vintage colt commander pistols with stainless suppressors and began to empty the magazines directly into the roof towards the driver and passenger seat. Once done, Nemo tossed the guns to the side and let them de-spawn like his shotgun did earlier.

The vehicle began to feel like nobody was controlling it anymore, so Nemo made his way to the hood of the car and looked though the window. The entire compartment was now spattered with blood from his barrage of bullets. With little time to spare Nemo used his heel to smash the window in. He placed the same spell that he place on his cycle onto the steering wheel of the van before he turned and bounded to the back of the Suburban. He used a hand gesture to suddenly jerk the steering wheel to the right. Causing the van to lose it's balance and crash into the remaining sedan. Both the vehicles spun off the road and into violent tumbles.

With only one car left, Nemo placed his right hand on the roof of the car, leaving a magic circle in it's wake. He forced his motorcycle to drive up to him then leapt back on it.

With his finale in place, Nemo let the cycle fall back to a safe distance to watch the fruits of his labor. He deactivated the control sigil and then raised his right hand up with an open palm, then swiftly closed it. The gesture triggered something on the magic circle he left on top of the Suburban. A cringe inducing grinding gear whine was heard from the car before the entire back end erupted in a small explosion. Naturally it was pushed downwards, but then seemed to be sucked up. The car was swept up into the air in a front flip like motion now. Bits and pieces of glass and metal from the back were strewn about as the vehicle flew a good distance. But all good things must come to an end, the huge vehicle eventually reconnected with the ground. This time with the car nearly upside down.

A better word to describe what the car did was that it "obliterated itself" into the ground. The Suburban still had quite a bit of forward energy in it. Causing it to slide across the road while emitting hundreds of sparks as metal ground up against hard pavement. Eventually the destroyed car came to a halt. Nemo himself passed the wreckage on his bike before coming to a stop a couple yards in front of it.

Nemo used his boot to put down the kickstand to his motorcycle. He then swung his leg over it and left the bike to inspect the destruction. He started to walk over to the remains of the vehicle all while whistling a tune to himself. The audible thud of his cowboy boots and slight jingle of his spurs could be heard by any survivors as he made his approach. Before he could reach the car a remaining mage stepped out from the back of the car, and judging by the glow of his hands he was already half done with preparing an attack. Nemo was still quicker to the draw however. He pulled his other revolver out of it's holster from his side and hammer fired three shots off directly into the mage's torso with blinding speed. The magic faded from the man's hands as three gunshot wounds began to seep blood into his clothes and he collapsed.

Nemo spun his gun around twice before reholstering it. Afterwards he noticed the final two unaccounted Magi try to make their escape out of the back, one helping the other who appeared to be freshly crippled from the accident. Nemo made a move to stop them but the uncrippled Magi quickly turned and fired off a powerful blast his way. Something that could of stopped Nemo literally dead in his tracks if he didn't absorb it in time. Nemo fired off a retaliatory blast which the Magi easily deflected. He dropped his comrade in order to fully combat his opponent. The notion put a sinister smile on Nemo's face.

Nemo patiently gave the man the first move, and the Magi began the duel by raining down a volley of manablasts from the sky. Something that Nemo could use his reflexes to dodge. What he couldn't dodge however was the wall of fire the Magi spat out towards him next. Nemo cross his arms in X shape and braced himself. From the Magi's perspective the wall of fire passed the terrain evenly before stopping. It was blocked by a large magic shield. It covered the shield temporarily before the middle of the shield disappeared, turning it into a ring.

The Magi was smart enough to know what came up next after the last ring he saw. He tried to evade, but a magic blast passed though the ring and accelerated to lightning speed with a bang, giving him only milliseconds to react. He thankfully was able to dodge the attack, but unfortunately not by much. The blast radius of the spell still caught him. The Magi was hurled a few feet away. He knew his attacker was going to go in for the kill. The Magi had no time to waste, he turned and used his Manalysis to find Nemo and fired off warning shots repel him away.

Nemo however easily absorbed the Manablasts and closed in on him. The mage got to his feet and put all of his remaining mana into a enhanced punch. Nemo countered by cancelling out the Magi's attack with his absorption rune on his palm once more. He cocked his head to the side when the Magi attempted to retreat. Nemo already had a vice like grip on his hand. Nemo used his free hand to deliver a punch to the Magi's face to stun him. And then let go of his hand and grabbed onto his neck with his right hand. Ever since Nemo first laid a finger on him, the Magi could feel his mana leaving him. He knew what was coming. With his mana already mostly used it up, it wasn't long until Nemo's trademark mana siphoning ability drained him dry and killed the man.

Nemo left his body out in the plains where they fought and returned to the one last loose end: The crippled Magi. He once again whistled a tune to himself as he walked up the the Magi, who had managed to get to his knees while Nemo was fighting. Nemo stopped a few feet from him and let the Magi catch his breath. During this time they could get a better look at eachother. The cripple was male, roughly 29, had short blonde hair and wore dress attire. The Magi looked to Nemo with scorn in his eyes. "Smiley... The Glutton... The Collector... Vile Consumer of Life..." The Magi spat out in between breaths.

His remarks caused Nemo to grin. "Oh you know I love the old names." He replied afterwards.

"Your time wanes here fiend, let it be known. By doing this you have only sealed your fate. By attacking us you attack the Church. You will regret your actions."

"Your time wanes here fiend." Nemo repeated in a mocking childish voice, ending it with sickening giggle like noise. "Well I can't say I'm not flattered by your concern, but I think you have bigger problems than my time right now." Nemo replied.

"I have no regrets." The Magi replied.

Nemo let out a puff of air from his nose at the Magi's response. "Is that so? Well then I propose a question. Tell me, if you knew the path you were taking was going to lead you here, would you have taken the same path?" He asked.

The Magi didn't give him any answer. Only a cold stare of resentment.

"I see." Nemo said with a slight smirk. He pulled his revolver from his holster, cocked back the hammer, and pulled the trigger.

---

It had been years since that incident for Nemo. And while his time wasn't exactly waning. Things had surely degenerated since then in a few ways. Starting with being locked up in a pitch black maximum security cell with no food and nobody to talk to for years. But at least on the upside he's had a lot of time to think.

Mamertine prison, maximum security for the biggest dangers to the Catholic church. The scripture spells they have engraved throughout the entire prison prevents spells from being cast. My spacial rift can take me in, but I won't be able to get out. However, it only prevents spells from being cast within the cells and the rooms and hallways right outside the cells. My manaegis becomes a physical object after cast, so the scripture spells shouldn't cancel it out. Felix pondered.

"Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm." Felix recited Ephesians 6:13 which was a small bit of the incantation he had used to create the spell Manaegis all those years ago.

Felix concentrated, plumbing the deepest fathoms of his mana well for his latent mana, and forced it to the surface. Felix felt his mana bubble from his pores, and he quickly willed the mana into the shape of a suit of armor. With mana still bubbling out, Felix reached his right hand out and willed it into the shape of a longsword.

Felix then swiped the longsword in the shape of the cross glyph creating a spacial rift, and walked through it.

The rift dropped him off inside what looked like a dark cave. The only light in the area was the soft glow from his manaegis. Felix willed his facemask to open up so he could get a better look at his surroundings. Immediately he was overwhelmed by the amount of mana waves radiating from inside the cell. In the corner of the square cavelike area was a confused looking pale man in tattered rags. The next person on the list. The one who killed many catholic magi, including his mentor, Garvian. Nemo Smiley, the glutton.

Memories surfaced of when he was twenty, only a few weeks after having mastered his new magic art Manaegis. Having just been given the title of Arch-magi for his accomplishment, he was one of the few Arch-magi, along with scores of grand magi, called when the emergency mission was put together to capture or kill Nemo Smiley. All the people's whose lives were ended at the hand of this monster... But now was not the time to think about that. There was a reason his name was one of the names written down on the parchment, he was supposed to be one of the guardians.

"Nemo Smiley. How long has it been? Eleven years? You're looking well all things considered." Felix said chidingly.

Nemo looked at the man, a blank expression on his face before his head cocked to the side in a rather unsettling motion. "Eleven years, eight months... and ten days. My memory is very good, and I've got quite the memory of you." The light was dim in the room, but his heavy runic metal binds could still be faintly seen attached to him. At his neck, hands, and legs. "Nothing bad of course. You gave me the fight I had always dreamed of. It was... beautiful. I can't have hard feelings against art can I?" He explained.

"You've given me the gift of a very long time to think things over, Felix. Eleven years and counting in a pitch black box can really help you find your inner self." He added.

Felix strolled over to a rock protrusion that looked like a bench carved from the rock wall, perhaps it was a bed or just a chair, and sat down. Felix unsealed the Manaegis helmet from the locks on the neck plate and placed the helmet to the side. He then turned his head and gaze towards the shackled Nemo.

More memories flashed of the powerful Nemo, and his agile fluidity and ferocity in battle. The only thing that kept Felix from certain doom was the combination of his large mana well, and his proficiency with Manalysis in combat. Even now feeling the mana waves, Felix could feel the ferocity of the deep hunger that Nemo's spell style- No, his entire being exuded. Nemo was the most difficult fight Felix had ever experienced.

"That's quite a compliment, coming from someone of your... capabilities." Felix responded.

Felix looked down for a moment and began chuckling.

Felix, thinking Nemo might have been a bit confused by the outburst decided to explain himself a bit.

"Out of all the people in the world that could have ended up on written down on the parchment of my fever dreams, it had to be the one woman who I screwed over more than anyone, and the man who slayed scores of my comrades in front of me." Felix finished with another genuine chuckle.

Felix willed his breastplate to hinge open and he reached into his robes underneath and procured the parchment he was speaking about. He then willed his breastplate back together again and stood up, walking toward the shackled criminal. He knelt down and handed the parchment to Nemo.

"Two weeks ago, I was at a summit. One major article that was brought up was a rejected motion brought up again. The motion was to search for the Paragons. Great relics of power, that when combined would bring forth power beyond anyone's wildest imagination. Maybe you have heard of it?" Felix cleared his throat and continued. "Well the new papal-magi who is part of the First Company, an order of Jesuit Magi, accepted the previously rejected notion and put it as top priority. That very same night, I had a dream, or maybe more accurately a vision. In the vision I was shown many horrible outcomes to befall the entirety of the world. I was told by a ethereal voice that in order to prevent these catastrophes, i was to assemble a group of guardians to track down the artifacts before anyone else does. When I awoke I was sitting at my desk, and that-" Felix pointed to the parchment Nemo was holding, "was in front of me, written in my handwriting. A list of names of guardians that I need to assemble. Second on that list, was your name."

"I don't know the reason behind your name being on the list. Perhaps whoever or whatever sent me the dream is aware of your power and thought it would be a good idea to utilize it. Or perhaps they are giving you this task as a form of penance for your crimes. Either way, if there is one thing that I am certain of, it is that in the underworld we operate in, there is no such thing as coincidence." Felix finished, standing back up.

"So will you rise to the occasion? If you say yes, and swear by it, I will break you free and we will be on our way." Felix stated

"A deal, huh?" Nemo said before pausing, taking in all the details of what Felix said and inspecting his list. His eyes allowed him to see it quite well despite the lighting. "The calming beauty of darkness can only be appreciated for so long. And my imagination hungers for inspiration. I desire to create again." He explained. "If you give me the chance to appreciate new beauty, it's only right for me to repay you. For those reasons I accept your offer. You have my word, and my services."

"I am trusting you. Do not make me regret this decision." Felix said. Then he swiftly and skillfully used his long sword to cut through Nemo's shackles like they were butter. He did it with suck accuracy that not even a hair was out of place even after he sliced off the choker shackle.

Felix then closed his eyes and focused feeling the mana waves. Felix could feel the presence two magi posted as guards outside the thick runic steel door to the cell. As he concentrated further he could feel the presence of at least thirty other magic waves intermingled on the higher levels. He formulated a plan and then opened his eyes.

"Here is the deal. In addition to the runic shackles they use on prisoners, the entire prison is engraved with a scripture spell. The spell makes it impossible for spells to be cast unless you are wearing the runic bangle with the counter spell the guards wear. The runic bangles are nearly impossible to forge, as the only ones who have seen the incantation for the enchantment are the warden and the papal-magi. The only way to get one is to take it off a guard. And the only way to take it off the guard is to... kill him. There is another way to take it, severing the arm. There are two guards posted outside this cell. I am going to cut down the door but I need you to distract them directly after the door falls. If they see me, they will focus me, and it will make this more messy than it needs to be. After they have their focus on you, run. Dodge a few spells to make it look convincing but get hit by one. They are only authorized to use restraint spells, so getting hit by one isn't going to be a big deal. After you are restrained, one of them will have to pick you up. That is where I will come in. I will surprise the other one with a quick strike to the head with a manaegis punch, it should knock him out silently enough while the other's back is turned picking you up. I will then... extract the runic bangle, put it on myself, and use a spell to knockout the other guard. That will alert the other guards due to the magic register system. But we will be gone before they arrive. After reattaching the guard's severed limbs with a healing spell. I will transport us out of here before any of the other guards arrive." Felix explained. "Any questions?"

Free from his restraints, Nemo slowly stood up from his sitting position to let the remnants of the shackles fall to the floor. He stretched his arms out before cracking his neck to each side. "If that is the picture you wish to paint, I will carry it out to my best ability." He replied calmly. "The sooner I can get out of these rags the better." He added as he readied himself by the door.

Felix watched as Nemo took position at the side of the door. Felix briskly walked over to the front of the door and cleaved the thick steel with two slashes, carving a cross into the thick metal. Because of the perfection of the cuts, and the fact that the door weight thousands of pounds, the door did not crumble on the spot, which is what Felix was banking. Within a second of making the cuts, Felix punched the door at where the cross lines intersected with his manaegis gauntlet.

The manaegis did not make Felix physically stronger. Felix was in good shape, but not enough to move thousands of pounds with a punch. The ethereal material that manaegis is made from, aptly dubbed Manalloy by Felix, is a special material with special properties. First off, normal physical matter is incompatible with Manalloy. This makes the makes contact between the two repellent in nature. This makes jumping much easier, and makes much more force from impacts cause more devastation. The other special property is that manalloy, once formed into the solid manaegis, can not have its form changed. This makes it impossible to scratch, dent, or bend manalloy. Instead, every time manalloy receives certain damage, the mana that is used to create begins to slip away into mana waves. Once it has received enough damage, the manalloy evaporates into mana. This can be used in many ways but is the reason why Felix's sword can cut through things with such ease. Felix has willed the the size of the blade edge to be an atom thick. Because of the fact that manalloy can not lose its form once made into manaegis, the blade retains its shape and does not crumble. This allows Felix to separate the molecular bonds holding the steel door together. This only works on items that aren't charged with mana or made from mana. If Felix were to, say, attack an enemy who was using an enchanted weapon, the weapons would clash harmlessly. This is due to the fact that manalloy is made from mana energy, and a weapon enchanted is infused with mana energy, the physical properties of mana energy counteract with each other resulting in a repelling force of which is equal and opposite to the energy used to propel the weapons forward.

Once Felix's fist came in contact with the door, the steel fell apart in a loud grinding screech. As soon as the door fell apart, Felix hid to the side, letting Nemo take it from here.

The guards quickly turned to face the crumbled heap that was the cell door. The darkness from inside the cell, in tandem with the light from the hallway made it very difficult to see anything from the cell except pitch black.

"Hey... this is Xero the Devourer's cell isn't it?" The guard on the left said to the guard on the right in Italian. It was clear they were both Italy natives, or just lived long enough at the Vatican that it became second nature to speak the language.

"Yeah... they say he kills people by eating their souls." The guard on the right said shakily. "Say... didn't you say the other day that you are better at seeing in the dark than me?" Guard Right pointed out, "maybe you should take the lead."

"Screw you man, I have a wife and kids. You are the single virgin here. You take the lead" Guard Left hissed.

Too afraid to enter, both guards leaned in as close as they dared to inspect the cell.

As the two guards continued their approach on Nemo's cell, they were stopped dead in their tracks when a disturbing "Yahooo!" like screech came from the inner sanctum of the room. Moments later Nemo rushed out from the shadows of his cell and into the light. Outside of the room there wasn't much. It was just a long dark dungeon hallway leading up to his cell, and a few light fixtures.

Nemo used his rushing tactic to get the first move in before they could react. He outstretched his arms and grabbed both of the guards necks in a choking like fashion, using his forward momentum to push them both to the floor violently. Nemo immediately continued on, doing a forward roll to get back on his feet.

One of the guards was quick to retaliate. "Shit!" he yelled as he slammed his palm on the floor to create a binding trap spell on the floor of the hallway in Nemo's path. The trap was big enough to encompass the whole floor.

Nemo noticed the trap and evaded it by jumping up, grabbing one of the light fixtures and swinging over the trap. He dismounted with a perfect back-flip.

One of the guards teleported in front of Nemo while the other had to wait a for the trap to fade. The guard began to fire off restraint spells to take him down. Simply yelling "Stop!" as he did so.

Nemo dodged the first blast to the right, then dodged the second one to the left. He was almost at the guard now, causing fear in his eyes as he knew he only had one chance left given their distance. All the while Nemo let out a rather sickening laugh as he closed in, he had the look of pure killing intent on his face.

The other guard was too busy dodging the collateral restraint spells that flew past Nemo to help. However right before Nemo could reach his comrade, the last blast his partner shot connected with his chest. The stun seemed to drop Nemo to the floor like a bag of bricks. After a few seconds of silence, the guard broke it by asking "Did you get him?"

"I... I think so." The guard replied.

"W-Well pick him up." Guard left commandes hastily. Both guards were facing down he hallway awar from the door. That's when Felix struck. He rushed nimbly out the cell and came right up to the back of guard left. He then struck out with a swift light punch that would not have done much if he hadn't been wearing manaegis. But since his fist was covered in a manalloy gauntlent, the resulting punch rocked his head to the point of knocking him out completely. Silently, he guided the guard's body down to the ground. Then he raised the guard's right hand and swiftly sliced it off at the bangel. After he sliced the hand off, he removed the bangel and removed his own manaegis gauntlet, and placed the bangle on. After he put the bangel on he put the gauntlet back on. The. He looked at the left guard whose stump was bleeding profusely. He then grabed the hand and placed it next to the stump and haved his hand over the wound. A green light came from Felix's hand and the guard's hand was reattached.

At this time guard right was having trouble picking up Nemo, he was not very physically fit so picking up an entire human, even one thar had been wasting away, seemed to begiving him a hard time. But as soon as Felix used healing magic the green light was bright enough to make the guard drop what he was doing and turn around. At this time it was too late. Felix had already readied a blackout spell and shot it at the guard's head. The guard crumpled in a heap next to Nemo.

Felix waved his hand over Nemo removing the restraint spell.

"Are you okay?" Felix asked

Nemo pushed himself up from the floor after his restraints were taken away. "Peachy." He replied, turning to look upwards once he heard what sounded like loud footsteps from above. Seems more guards had begun to mobilize to their position, and fast. "Well Glasius, looks like we better make our grand exit." He commented.

Felix was way ahead of Nemo; creating a crucifix glyph in the air, Felix opened up a spacial rift. Felix always liked the visual effect of a spacial rift opening. Spacial rifts looked a lot like a hot highway in the distance on a sunny day. An up close mirage effect, trapped in space and time. Like a vertical rippling pool of pure water with heatwaves exuding from it. Of course the "heatwaves" of the rift were actually spacial distortions. But the comparison was stunningly similar.

After taking about two seconds to marvel at the visual aesthetics of the rift he had seen thousands of times before, he walked through it.

On the other side was the familiar living room of his large cabin in the redwoods. Felix had created this cabin four years ago after Raiya left the Arcanocracy. He wasn't truly suspicious of the church, but he began to have his doubts at that moment. As a measure to secure his future should he have to leave the Vatican and Catholicism, he used his magic to create this large mansion style cabin out of one redwood tree. Of course, he made sure to make the cabin far enough away from Societas Academia, though that was easy seeing as he had a whole other 176 square miles to choose from. After using his magic to fashion the cabin itself, he also dipped a bit into his large savings account to furnish the house. Then, after everything was said and done, he also put up protective wards and barriers concealing the hope and preserving it.



"Welcome to our base of operations." Felix said. "Of course, this is only the first floor of the right wing of the cabin. We have plenty of rooms and amenities, so please choose a room, and make yourself at home. There is a pool in the basement down stares alongside the rec-room with arcade games and pool tables. Of course if none of that piques your fancy, there is also a large library with a wide array of books and tomes. There is also a large kitchen with any cooking implement you need; all the food that I bought four years ago should still be perfectly edible because of the preservation wards I placed on the house. There is also a piano room with various other instruments, if you care. All the rooms have their own bathrooms. Don't worry about using too much water, all of it is spacially transported from the Cedar Mountain aquifers. If there is anything else you have any questions about, let me know." Felix had a large smile on his face, as if this was the moment he had been waiting four years for.

Nemo quickly followed Felix through the portal and away from his prison for good, or at least Nemo hoped it was for good. The pleasant view of the inside of Felix's cabin was a sight for sore eyes after so long in a box. After leaving the counter magic area, Nemo didn't waste any time to finally use some of his spells once again.

Nemo held out his right hand, the immediate area around it seemed to light up and displace before he closed his hand into a fist. A small bright white glowing crystal ball appeared in his palm once he opened it. It was identifiable as a concentrated mana crystal to anybody with intermediate knowledge of arcane items. However instead of using it in the traditional sense, Nemo lifted the golf ball sized bauble up above his head and opened his mouth. He made the same "ahhhh" noise the doctor tells you to before dropping the thing right into his mouth and swallowing it whole in one gulp.

For a few seconds the action seemed to have no effect, but soon enough Nemo's white eyes began to glow softly. He contorted and stretched his whole body a few times as the result of his ability began. Nemo's body began to rapidly reshape itself back to a healthy condition; reversing the effects of being in the prison cell for so long.

After the ordeal Nemo dropped his hands to his side and let out a sigh. "Much better." He said with closed eyes and a small chuckle. After hearing Felix he opened them and spoke. "I might have some questions, but right now I'm long overdue for a good shower. I will return shortly." Nemo commented, making his way upstairs and choosing a room.

---

About ten minutes later Nemo returned from his shower and walked down the stairs. "After thinking about it I do have one question, Felix." He announced. At this point Nemo had canned the rags he was wearing from prison, probably destroying them, and replacing them with some of his own clothes. (Everything from the character sheet minus the scarf and jacket.)

He ran his hand through the back of his hair, brushing over one of his cylindrical silver beads before resting the hand in one of the pockets of his rather flashy Tyrian purple pants. He had armed himself with his revolvers at this point two, one holster on his belt, and one holster attached at his side to a leather shoulder half harness.

"On the parchment you showed me earlier... I couldn't help but notice there was one name above me. You also seemed to find it humorous that a specific woman's and my name were on that list as well. And yet, there wasn't anybody who came with you to my cell, and nobody else here either. This sparks my curiosity, so why don't you indulge me?" Nemo explained.

The day was dreary. Gray, damp, and wet. The slosh of the cars as they passed on the street mixed with the pitter patter of the rain. Deston loved this kind of weather. It seemed to have a calming effect on everyone. Most people would just be grumbly and sluggish but there were a few content faces he saw as he made his way down the streets of Chicago. Even the unfortunate souls who had a vehicle shower them with puddle water as it passed couldn’t seem to put up more effort than a disappointed sigh. In weather everyone kept their head down. No one wants to stand out and challenge the day to get even worse. It helped the unnoticeable become invisible.

Deston’s eyes could just barely see under the gray hoodie he was wearing. His eyes scanning the faces of those that passed by. Everyday at exactly 8:15 in the morning his target walked this street to get to work. Weeks spent following just this one man. Deston hadn’t put this much effort into a target for nearly a year now. But this one was special. He had direct access to Deston’s real target. And today was the day Deston retrieved the information that he needed from him. He appeared a block away, rounding the corner running a bit behind schedule, his walk furious and fast paced. He had just found out his wife had been cheating on him. His mind was in the perfect condition now. His guard was down. A sly smile curled into the corner of Deston’s lips.

They bumped shoulders on the crowded sidewalk. Deston’s hand pressed against the man’s chest in contorted in a mark of magic. The man continued down the street checking to make sure he still had his wallet and phone, not even giving Deston a second glance. Deston resisted his own urge to take a look back at his target. Deston already knew where the man was going. There was no need to keep eyes on him. The magic was already there. Now all Deston needed to do was wait.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The man arrived at small building and stumbled inside. His heart was racing. He couldn’t believe she could do this to him. Twelve years they had been together and just like that, out of nowhere. They had just spent the other night out on a date. Why would she do this? The lights were dim now and a faint red glow began to come from them. He had to keep checking over his shoulder to make sure it wasn’t there. Her laugh resounded in his head. God she wouldn’t shut up. He just wanted to make her suffer. Make her hurt like she hurt him.

Suddenly it slithered past him. He wasn’t sure what it was but he could feel his heart pounding in response. His back pressed up against the wall. It felt sticky and slimy, the smell of iron coming from it. God above she wouldn’t shut up. She was so loud now his head was starting to spin, and he was breaking out into a sweat. Suddenly he couldn’t remember where he was. He dropped to his knees, his breaths coming in gasps. He tried to wipe the sweat from his brow smearing the blood across his forehead, adding to the nauseating feeling. Why was he here? He was supposed to be at work. GOD SHE WOULDN’T SHUT UP! There it was again. It just went behind him. His head swiveled trying in vain to keep up with it, the spinning causing him to collapse to the floor, spitting out at the inch of water that had accumulated on the floor trying to drown him. “Oh GAWD MAKE IT STOP!”

“I can help with that.” A voice in the dark whispered out. Who was there? Why wouldn’t they help? Their voice cut through her laughter like a knife, leaving only a dull thud in its place. Brief moments respite before she began again. “You just have to tell me where the Grand-Magi is.”

Grand Magi? He shouldn’t answer. Where was the voice coming from? The room just had to stop spinning and he knew the voice would be right there on the edge of his vision. It was slithering around his leg now, crawling up his pant leg, another one climbing across his lower back it’s slither sending shivers through his already contorting body. There was more than one?! “Tell me where the Grand-Magi is!”

“I don’t know! No one knows! He disappeared a year ago! Just make her stop!”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

His coworkers were gathered all around him, some shouting for someone to call an ambulance, others touching his forehead calling out to him in sweet consoling tones. The man frothed from the mouth as he screamed out nonsense to no one in particular. His body contorting this way and that.

It was in Deston’s power to make the delusion end but the man’s answer fanned a fire in Deston’s heart that raged uncontrollably. This man was supposed to have all the answers. He was supposed to know the Grand-Magi’s every move. Instead he was two months of wasted effort and pointless life. Deston had the power to make the delusion end, but he just walked back out the door. He let the drizzle sizzle the fire of his soul. Step by step he felt the calm return. He was too far away to fix the madness he had laid upon the man now and a pang of regret doused what was left of Deston’s rage.

He shuffled his way back to the homeless shelter he had called a home for the past couple of weeks, wondering what direction he should go from here.

Felix was reluctant to answer the man he once called an enemy. But apprehension soon passed as he decided to disclose this information.

"The name that was above yours," Felix paused to let out a long and drawn out sigh, "was my sister, Raiya Mamushi. We grew up in the same orphanage and eventually met back up at the Vatican. She became a grand-magi but left soon after. Her reasons for leaving were justified. I can see that now. And perhaps I saw it a bit before as well, I just didn't want to acknowledge it. I was forbidden to go and see her after she became an apostate. It just so happened that four years after she left, her name was written in my handwriting on that parchment after awoke from that vision. Of course, I went to see her first. But unsuprisingly, she wanted nothing to do with me. She even threatened to kill me the next time she saw me. After she left the Arcanocracy all those years ago, she built up a ring of organized crime in New York City, of which she is the leader. Her reaction may have been overboard, but I believe she meant it. I am sure she has killed many people for less." Felix sighed again.

Nemo mentally took notes as Felix explained the situation. He went over to the to the fridge, found some juice, and poured it out into a glass like it was a fine scotch before sitting down.

"I see, so democracy didn't go well." Nemo commented. "I've found that negotiations often go that kinda way for me. Especially with gang related individuals. Sometimes you have to take... a different route with them." He explained, taking a swig from his glass mid sentence.

He shrugged. "Well, I'm sure the situation will work itself out one way or another." He finished.

"I hope so," Felix bemoaned, "I certainly am not looking forward to going back to convince her any time soon."

Felix pulled up his robe's sleeve, and looked at his manadial, a multipurpose watch that could keep track of what time it was no matter where the user was as well as send and receive telepathy conversations to other manadial users as long as you had their mana signature saved.

"Confound it! It's fourteen-hundred (two o' clock) already!? I'm burning day light!" Felix reached into his robes and produced the parchment with the names scrawled upon them. The next on the list was Deston Douglason. The address next to his name was a homeless shelter in Chicago. Felix turned towards Nemo, "You'll be alright if I leave you here right? It costs more mana to transport more people and i have a lot of people to transport today, so I would rather keep the load light if I don't have to babysit you." Felix let out a sigh and said, "I trust you to keep your word here. So don't let me down."

Then with a flick of his finger he created a crucifix glyph in the air and walked through the rift disappearing from sight.

---

@Skelace The rift dropped Felix in an alleyway near the homeless shelter. Before leaving the alleyway, Felix did a quick appearance illusion spell to blend in with the homeless people. Turning his robes to a drab green wool coat and tattered jeans.

Felix used his manalysis to locate Deston. It just so happened that he was right outside the entrance about to enter the shelter. He appeared to be caught in thought, so he wasn't moving very quickly.

Felix shuffled up beside him.

"Do not be alarmed, Deston Douglason." Felix whispered quickly. "My name is Felix Glasius. I am an ex-Arch-Magi, now marked as an apostate by the Catholic Arcanocracy. If I could have a moment of your time, I have a bit of a proposition for you."

Deston had been careful to make sure he hadn't been seen the last couple months, not wanting to have a run in with more assassins that he was sure his old friend had out looking for him. His time stalking his prey he had made sure to hide his aura lest he be found before he struck. But after finding the man had no contact with his former Grand-Magi for the past year, Deston had let his thoughts take him away, completely forgetting all pretenses of hiding himself. His mind seemed to race round and round in a hopeless cycle, looking for what he missed, questioning how he could have been so blind, where would he start now? A mixture of self pity and loathing constantly seeping its way into his thoughts, not at all helped by the sour mood of the gloomy city around him.

When a whisper broke through his thoughts panic and fear nearly startled him to his core. He knows my name? An agent against the Church? Deston's eyes scanned the beggar looking man from head to toe, now fully alert. The thought of this being a trap clear in his mind. "Ex-Arch-Magi huh? Didn't know that was a thing. Few reason's to leave the Arcanocracy when you are so high up." Stopped and turned to face the man, fighting the urge to run. It was clear to Deston how powerful a mage the man standing before him was so if nothing else he said was true the Arch-Magi part couldn't be far off. "What kind of proposition would you such a high ex-ranking member of the Arcanocracy have for me? Perhaps the better question to start off should be how do you know my name?

With spring coming in full force the school at the heart of the redwood was going in full swing. In-between periods the campus was filled with the life of a wide variety of students from primary school all the way to graduate level adults. It was as much home as it could be for many of them who are here, more so to the talents than the untalented who find their way becoming members of the magical community. A bastion from hiding their gifts or running from those who seek to harm them, the Societas Acadamia stood tall with the setting sun as its rays colored the wood in its orange glow. One girl found her way towards a specific Aspect Trainee building as he last class for the day passed and she had some research to be done. Her hair was pitch white besides for the tinted yellow that the sunlight gave and it flowed behind her almost hypnotically with each of her steps. Slipping inside and quietly making her way into a smaller room she gently set her bag near the door and hung up her light springtime jacket before moving towards the white marble counter before her.

It wasn’t an ordinary lab of course, and in this room no natural lightning was found while Yuno lit a few candles instead of normal lights. A more traditional light source that she preferred the warmth of while taking out a small velvet pouch that was tied closed by a string. Setting the gem down in the middle of the marble and opening it up she gazed at the rainbow of color inside. Reaching inside and pinching a stone in-between her pointer and thumb son enough a emerald was pulled out and set aside on the surface of the counter. Moving to the side she had a more advanced piece of equipment as she was working on one of her more annoying research papers. Setting the emerald down on a slide and bringing her eyes towards the scope her focus shifted to that of the enhanced green gem. “Sorry about unveiling you like this, my darling green stone.” She commented to herself as her other hand hovered over a piece of paper to take notes. Working through the structure of the gem and seeing if she could decipher why her magic works the way it does. An attempt to look at it logically and scientifically, though even if she enjoyed logic a small bit of her resented taking away the mystery or simply understanding the feeling that using such magic caused.

Twenty or so minutes passed by before she was startled from her microscope by the noise of a loud knock on the door. After her brief release of a held breath into opening the door she was greeted by one of her research professors, in fact the one who was even more curious than her about the mystery of her magic. Much of what she had wrote down in fact was a bit of a lie. Even if her paper was on the gems itself, she couldn’t allow her families secret simply pass by and fill open hands. Though that will only be an issue if the material properties of the gem were the largest factor in how the magic works. Even if she objected to the assignment though it would simply detract from her grade since every student was supposed to analyze their magic in their class, but it was more likely due to the professors scholarly background and personal gain over a true grading purposes.

The conversation was annoying for her at least as he tried to seemingly pry information of her. Perhaps he was from her mother’s class and was jealous. At least, that was one possibility Yuno had thought up by this point from the special interest she was getting from him lately. Another con of living within the confines of a school that wanted another one of her mother to be produced: Everyone also wanted in on her magical ability. It wasn’t uncommon for her to hear people wish they grew up with her privileges or ask her to fight so they can simply watch her cast until she refused them outright at times if that was their goal. It wasn’t due to being passive at least; half of her would beat them to the floor if it wouldn’t get her suspended or in trouble at home. Instead she had to eloquently express her refusal much like how she must eloquently word her phrases that pleased the professor without giving anything important away. She didn’t want to tell him everything she would even write after all since if there was nothing new in the paper then what could she expect?

“Why does science need to explain magic… I much prefer the fantastical and romantic view for magic.” She muttered to herself once he left as it was a logical way to view it in her mind. Magical was a phenomena in the world of science after all, so why bother trying to fit it to the traditional ideal anyway. Especially if only Talents can us it anyway. Packing up her things a few hours after the conversation and moving away she looked towards the fully set sun and onto the twilight sky full of stars set in their purple sea she let out a brief sigh. After which she clapped her hands to her face for a brief moment before smiling gently to herself. <Come on, you have some free time tonight. Go climb a tree and watch the stars or something. Play a piano or read a good book.> she told herself to get a bit cheered up and putting a finger to her chin in thought. <Star gazing then. At least I have a break from combat practice today. The kid I trained with yesterday didn’t prepare a defense properly… He needs to control his panic a bit better> After which she moved off towards the edge of campus and moved a little ways out from it to begin her climb. Made easier with a few basic magic spells of course to get up such tall trees into a branch that isn’t blocked from above for the night sky. “Hello, moon.” She whispered at that point before watching the different constellations appear in the sky as the dimmer stars that don’t fully appear in twilight bring themselves onto the stage of night.