The sun shone brightly making the sand glitter like diamonds, the church bell rang and a young boy came out after he finished his morning prayers, he went down to the beach and saw a dark haired man washed ashore.
Alphonse slowly opened his eyes and he could see the ceiling of the roof,
"Where I'm I?" He spoke in a soft tune.
"Oh! Your awake"
Alphonse slowly turned his head towards the table, there seated a young boy, his hair like cotton and eyes like the ocean, he walked towards Alphonse, " keep still. How are you feeling?"
" Well, not bad" Alphonse replied getting up and sitting on his back.
" Good. You've been asleep for a long time. This is a church in Solea, you were washed upon the beach outside."
Alphonse looked at the young boy
" Did you save me...? Boy..?"
The young boy shook his head.
"My name is Gabriel, I'm not a cleric, but I am helping the priest of this church.
A..Are you from Lodis?"
" Iam a knight of Felis, my name is Alphonse, Alphonse Loehar. We were headed for this island by ship, but a storm hit and we lost our way, with our ships in shambles we were attacked by bandits..."
Gabriel jumped from his sit and came closer towards Alphonse
" Did you fall overboard?"
Alphonse smiled and patted his head, " something like that, I'm not much of a swimmer."
"Hehe..." Gabriel giggled " maybe a mermaid saved you, there aren't many left but some still live around here."
" Mermaid? A woman with a fish's tail."
Gabriel sat back on his seat and looked over the open window. " It was a long time ago, but once I saw a beautiful mermaid, her whole body was shining in gold."
" I'd love to see her.." Alphonse added " By the way how old are you? And where are your parents?"
" How old I'm I?" Gabriel replied, not sure of himself, " I don't know but, they said I was born when Lodis began to take control."
" Well, that was Fourteen years ago, maybe your fourteen or fifteen"
"Maybe...."
"Well what about your parents?"
" Oh! I don't have parents, Iam under foster care."
" Oh, Iam sorry"
" That's okay....."
The door slowly opened and a woman in armour entered the room, she had long silver hair which she braided and her sword rested on the scabbard.
" Looks like you have almost fully recovered." She said
" Who are you?" Alphonse asked
" My name is Ivanna, I was once a soldier of Rananculus, but now Iam on my own."
She walked towards him " Gabriel, may I speak with him a little?"
Gabriel nodded his head
" Of course" he said and made his way to the table.
Alphonse spread the blanket and sat up straight.
"You said that you were a soldier of Rananculus, was that with the northern White fang troops, the cause of this island troubles"
" That's right, but that was nearly 10 years ago, Gabriel told me about what happened to you, I wanted to speak to you."
Ivanna stared at Alphonse for a while and looked at his crest on his clothes.
" Felis ...the order of the sacred flame....you were sent here by Lodis at the request of Anser?"
"...."Alphonse remained silent.
She slowly took the crest on her balm and started examining it.
" I've heard that in Scabellum, there's a group of knights in unfamiliar armour. Are they comrades of yours?"
"Hmmmm...."
" There are no organised troops in the south and their accent and manners are different. Rumours spread quickly."
"We were separated by the Strom. If this is true I must contact them."
" I have some errands to take care of in Scabellum, so I'll go with you, I'll come again tomorrow, see you then." Ivanna said as she walked towards the exit and slowly closed the door behind her.
Gabriel stood up from his chair and slowly walked towards Alphonse.
" Iam glad you found out where your comrades are." He said
" I appreciate your kindness, I will leave here tomorrow afternoon, Thank you." Alphonse replied.
Gabriel smiled."....your welcome."
"Gabriel?..where are you?.... Gabriel!?"
" Father Hamen's calling me, I have to go."
" Father Hamen?"
" He's the priest here.....and my foster father."
" Gabriel!?"
" AH!!...I'm coming!" He quickly opened the door and went out as fast as he could.
Alphonse looked at the open door, still on the bed. " Sigh... Iam glad Rictor is near here."
. . .
Afternoon,the next day
The port of Scabellum seemed deserted with no noise at all. Alphonse looked around the port the sound of the waves were louder and seagulls flying around
" So quiet, it doesn't seem like a port city."
Ivanna joined him. " Since the White fang troops arrived the people in the town around here have been more cautious, this port used to be bustling with activities....."
" So, you said that there are a group of knights here in Scabellum." Alphonse said
" Yes, that's what I've heard" Ivanna replied
" If that's true, I pray that I find them here, so what errands are you gonna take care of?"
" Iam trying to find out some people to question ..." Before Ivanna could finish the door behind them unlock.
" Quick hide!!!" She said as they both hid behind the barrels
A man in a blue cloak walked out of the door and on his chest was a crest.
"Rictor?" Alphonse said " that's Rictor!" He jumped out and hurried towards him
" Rictor!!!" He shouted.
Rictor turned back " Who's tha.... Alphonse? Alphonse is that you!?"
Alphonse jumped and hugged Rictor he was overjoyed. " Rictor!!! It is you." He said circling around him
"Woah!! Calm down Alphonse." Rictor said stopping Alphonse from going in circles. " Are you okay?"
" Iam fine." He replied " a very kind boy saved my life, though he said it was a mermaid, I'm pretty sure it was him."
Rictor smiled at him, " Iam glad your safe." " Who's that young lady over there?"
"Oh! She's..."
"My name's Ivanna, I was once a soldier of Rananculus." Ivanna replied.
"Rananculus?"
"Yes, Rananculus but it was in the past Iam on my own now."
"Rictor she mean no harm, she came here for some errands."
Rictor looked at Ivanna then at Alphonse " well if that's what you say, Alphonse we have some things to discuss. let's go inside, James and the other soldiers are inside."
" Ok, Rictor"
" Please, excuse us."
Ivanna bowed her head," well Alphonse well meet again later."
...
Inside the Inn
Rictor's troops were all present there, they were drinking and eating.
" Alphonse!!!" James hurried towards him and hugged him. " I thought you were dead, Iam glad to see you well."
"Haha" Alphonse laughed, " Com'on I won't die that easily."
" We all had all the imagination, like what if you were eaten by a fish or what if the waves took you somewhere far away and that you cannot return."
"Well, that's a hell of imagination." Alphonse replied with a smirk on his face.
'Clap!! Clap!!'
Rictor clapped his hands " Ok that's enough talking now, me and Alphonse have some important things to discuss, Alphonse meet me upstairs." He said and walked towards the stairs.
" Yes, Sir!"
" Rictor, what's the important things you'll liked to discuss" Alphonse said as he walked towards him.
Rictor stood beside the widow facing the ocean, his arms behind his back.
" After we were attacked, we boarded a small craft and came to this port where we spoke to the mayor, the townspeople have been willing to provide information,but not money or soldiers."
" Are they too coward to protect themselves?" Alphonse said
"They take our protection for granted, since the island was subjugated by the holy Lodis Empire Ovis has fallen under the jurisdiction of Felis."
" I've heard that some towns still have a grudge against Lodis because of the reformation."
Rictor folded his hands, " things probably won't go very smoothly, even though this is Lodis territory, but it's also true that southerners want nothing to do with Rananculus."
"They dislike both us and the people of the north."
" As for the task at hand our mission is to investigate and resolve the conflict here according to our information, the number of foreign soldiers and pirates has increased over the last two years we also heard that pirates were spotted here a few days ago, so we hid and waited for their return, then you showed up.
" The White fang troops are under the direct order of the Lord of the Rananculus, he must have some hand in the current problems."
" The Batraals....they've ruled Rananculus for generations. The current Lord is Naris, before inheriting that title, he was the head knight of the White fang troops.
" I doubt this is merely a show of power...so, have you discovered their intentions?
Rictor shooked his head. " No, Iam not certain of anything yet, they've been acting in small groups, their leader's a knight, but the rest seem to be disorderly fellows maybe Bandits. Oddly enough, they've made no demands they've just been excavating ruins and collecting old books."
" Well, I doubt they're here merely as historians. What do you estimate their numbers to be?"
" We know little about their strength or true objectives, but we do not know that the troops which are causing the recent problems are stationed by the ruins southeast of Naja, their leader is Nichart Briffaut, a knight of Rananculus."
" Will you attack then head on?"
"No, if we attack them directly, the enemy will have the advantage because they're more familiar with the area, therefore my plan is to attack them from the flank, that way, they'll have their backs to the ocean. I'll go through the forest and you'll cross vespa hill and attack from the west."
"But, we are too few to divide in half."
Rictor rummaged his bag and took out a pouch full of goth." Here,take this." He said and handed the pouch over to Alphonse.
" Prepare your troops using these campaign funds. Enter the ruins while we lure Thier main force out capture the leader and find out their purpose."
Alphonse placed the pouch on his belt, the money was enough to hire soldiers and food as well shelter.
" Alright!!!"