It was a particularly windy day on the city of Cremeria, capital of the Crimson Empire and home of the three great volcanoes. Behind one of the volcanoes, near the border of the city to the ocean, is the grounds of where the brightest children of the empire learn about the art of fighting, or “Arts” as they call it. One of them is a young, fit girl with skin color typical of those of Crimson descent with light-red skin and hair as brown as the bark of a Sakura tree that provided the leafy cushion for her leather boots. She’s wearing a hard leather armor with her wheeler, a double-sided glaive - in contrast to the older man in front of her, whose attire is nothing but a robe who bears no weapon. They’ve been standing for a good minute at the carpeted fields, just staring at each other.

 

“Good luck Celosia!” a boy shouted from the sides, watching them meditate on their first move in this decisive battle of wits and reflexes.

“You can do it!” cheered another girl of her age in this final battle against their master. Yes, this was the test on whether Celosia was prepared to leave the city.

 

“…Here we go.” The master swiftly charged and held up his two fingers and chanted, “Art of Red: 1,” and a small fire emerged from his fingertips. The student was unfazed by the sudden attack and blocked the fire with her wheeler. Immediately jumping, the master sweeped his hands, “Art of Red: 2.”

Celosia rolled to dodge and tried to stab the master in mid-air. This battle is also a battle of control, where despite all the flammable materials surrounding them, nothing burned from their flames.

“Clack” goes the wheeler as the master stepped on it, jumped, and cast, “Art of Red: 5!” and a radial flame spreads from his mouth but Celosia dissipated the flames with a spinning deflection and chanted “Art of Red: 1!” towards his face but poof goes the flame with a simple flick of the master. Suddenly, a metallic object was within his face!

“What the-” and after avoiding it, he immediately knew he lost. He looked at the bottom of his robe and indeed… it was on fire. His student threw her only weapon just to accomplish her goal - to get a single flame to hit her master.

 

“Well done, Celosia.” The master conceded and acknowledged the young girl while patting the flame off his robe.

“Only someone like you can think of the most outlandish things, like seriously who throws their only weapon?! You are ready for ‘Favi’.”

“Thank you so much, master. It was an honor.” With a customary bow, the fight has officially ended with Celosia winning.

“Celosia!” the girl who kept cheering on her approached her. “Cherry…”

“You are bloody amazing! That was the fastest I’ve seen someone win against the master!”

“Heh, of course!” she says as her grin conquers her face.

“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to watch you, I have to go somewhere.”

“It’s something with Chroma again, isn’t it?” Celosia shrugged as Cherry nudged her.

“Cherry! Your turn!” the master shouted as he becomes more and more impatient.

“See you later and good luck!” Celosia waves and rushed into the heart of the city.

“N-nooooo! Don’t leave me!!!!” Cherry cried in fear.

---

“He’s probably there again.”

Before she knew it, her hair fluttered with the wind, sweat flowed through her body, and her legs moved with the rhythm of her heart. Stepping on the path carved with the pink, luminescent Tugtupite crystals, carpeted by rosy-tinted petals from the flowers of the Lapacho trees beside the road, she rushed with the shadows of the creatures of the skies. She looked behind, only to see the ongoing fight of her friend against the master as roars and bursts of magnificent flames engulfed the area.

“Casters are always so showy.”

She kept on running until she stumbled upon a huge 2-story villa made of the finest concrete and surrounded by a wall covered with beautiful black-colored paintings depicting the intricate history of the empire.

“Fitting for the master.”

Each step made her go lower and lower as she descended on a slope until she’s at the mercy of the smallest volcano, Puella. It spouts only a tiny amount of its lava from time to time into the ocean, which is why it was turned by the Royal Family into its home. The whole base of the volcano is bordered by pearly white walls, as if proudly saying that “This entire area belongs to my master.” She continued sprinting along its contours until she was in front of its main gate. A quick peek and what she got is a sight that most commoners covet.

“A palace! A palace on the top of a volcano!” She thought.“ His family is as wack as this place. Like what insane minds would build their home that requires 476 steps to reach?!” Celosia’s mind wandered even though she sees these everyday, running before she bumped into someone… or “something” as they call it.

"Ah, Mistress Celosia! Why are you in such a rush?"

A female servant, in a red plain dress, approached her. It was Chroma’s personal servant, an Orange girl named Apoy. Her absolute subservience is apparent in the subtleties of her countenance while she does the customary curtsy.

"Finding Chroma." Despite knowing her for ages now, Celosia still sees Apoy with disgust. The reason is not because Apoy is half her size nor her servant status, but simply because she’s orange.

“They’re just simply inferior,” she thinks to herself as her deep red eyes vindicates her birthright in this velvet land. Why there are even orange-skinned slaves here perplexed her, “Surely Crimson slaves would be infinitely better than these!” No need to think deeper though, as she is only inferior to those of the Royal family, and only they know why.

“Maybe Chroma knows.”

“Hmm?”

“Huh?” finally realizing that she unknowingly muttered her inner thoughts, she coughed and quickly left.

She moves on and entered the center of the city. It is truly the heart of the lands, keeping the city alive with each caravan arriving from their long journey, soldiers patrolling the streets, commoners going on with their daily lives, and hopefuls setting up wooden stalls as the long awaited Favi, The Day of the Ashes comes near. Each stroke of the sun disappears as her own mansion shades her delicate body. It is only second to the Royal Palace, as Celosia is the daughter of the Great Hero Igni. Only a person of great honor can have such a home between the steaming flux of molten rocks. After a bridge that crosses the lava rivers, she’s finally in the vast open field of blood grass. There are some farms and some hills here and there, but there is a subtle path here that only she and Chroma knows. Walking through the endless meadows and skipping on some lava tributaries, she finally saw her goal in sight. A lone hill with a lone prince.

 

“There you are!” energy beams from her even after sprinting the span of the city. She went near him and tapped the shoulder pads of his armor.

“Chroma.”

“Chroma.”

“Chroma.”

No response. She went closer to him and messes with his short crimson hair, reminiscent of a proper Crimson man. Nothing.

“Oh well”, she thought and just sat beside him.

“He IS sometimes like this.” She stared at him in the eyes, only to see a dark abyss within those scarlet pupils.

“What is this guy even thinking?” she thought. Her eyes moved towards the view in front of them. It was the culmination of all the fiery rivers and tributaries. It was the Tear of the Lovers, appropriately called because of the “Father” and “Mother” volcano, endlessly flowing into the lava-filled, eternally burning Lake Crima, where the capital got its name.

“Oh yeah…” This was probably the last day for a while that she’ll be embraced by the warm hug of the steam and smoke and the guidance of the light it provides. It finally started to sink into Celosia.

“Ahh.” It was only then that it striked her that that was what he thought.

“Celosia.” It seems like he’s back.

“Hmm?”

“Do you remember falling here?”

“After all that waiting, that’s the first thing you say to me… of course I do, sheesh.”

“Hahaha, you were staring at those fierycanths so much that you fell! You could’ve just bought one at the market!” Chroma can’t stop laughing so much that he teared up.

“Hmph! As if you didn’t fall at that long ass stairs at your home that time!”

“It was your fault! You tripped me!”

Both cackled at their banter.

“There was also that time where you got chased by a wolf. Also that day when Cherry and Marcus first came here. And also our first day at the Oracle with the master and so, so much more memories of this city.”

Chroma’s face started to become more and more solemn as his ramble goes on, “That’s why I’m so scared, Celosia. Can’t you see I’m shaking?” Celosia touched his hands and indeed, it is.

Celosia stood up and widely opens her arms toward the city, “You are Chroma Cremeria Scarlet, prince of the Crimson Empire! This city and the land beyond will be yours! And you’re scared?”

She faced him and pointed the tip of her wheeler at his face, “And with ‘Favi’, we’re gonna meet the people that YOU will soon rule! Oh, they will be so disappointed with a whiny king!”

He looked absolutely dumbfounded at Celosia’s heated stupidity, “Uhhh… I’m not even the heir apparent, remember?”

“I don’t care, you pussy! Heir apparatus or whatever prince thing you are!” Celosia suddenly chanted, “Art of Red: 3!” and with a kick, a sweeping flame moved toward Chroma but he immediately dodged it with a roll.

“Hey! What the hell?! Are you looking for a fight?!”

“Maybe I am.”

Only the music of the whirling wind entered the ears of the youngsters with their arms tense, posture solid, and senses sharpened to prepare for any sudden movement the enemy makes while their minds are calculating the precise move they must make at the exact mome-

“Grggrg.”

Celosia’s stomach growled so loudly that Chroma’s got jealous and also growled back.

“After that training, yeah…”

They falter from their intense stare down, “We need to eat.”

“Then let’s go back and buy something on the marke-”

His lips was shut by her finger and she naughtily whispers, “Follow me.” Reluctantly, he follows while wondering why she has that huge mischievous smile. Eventually, they arrived in one of the farms in the range and they snuck towards one of its windows.

 

“This is Mr. Farmer’s home! Are we bloody stealing again?!” said Chroma with a whisper-y scream. It was a standard house for a large commoner family of the capital, a single-story brick house that had a entrance hall that led to an atrium with various doors that led to several rooms. Fortunately, only Mr. Farmer lives here, making him an easy target for the thieves.

“Celosia! We’re rich! Why the hell are we doing this?!”

“It’s fun! Besides, it’s our families that gave him this home in the first place!” she said as she scanned the perimeter to check if no one’s around.

“See the barn door over there? It’s open. He’s likely there. Now’s our chance. Think of this as collecting the tax.”

Chroma sighed and entered the open courtyard with Celosia leading. They checked each door with quick, tiptoed steps until they hit their jackpot. It was the storage room, a cold, damp room with a large cabinet, full with various jars filled with wine. Beside that are barrels, some filled with pickled fruits, and others meat that were smoked and salted. Near the far end of the room are fish tanks with live shrimps and crabs. Lastly, in the middle of the room are leftover breads and cheese in a small round table with a single leg with smooth, intricate design. The delinquent lass grabbed a single jar and one of the leftover breads and proceeded to indulge herself. The spilled drops of wine and breadcrumbs on her armor is particularly noteworthy to the reluctant Chroma.

“Y’r nwht gong to et?” she said, barely understandable because of the bread stuffed in her mouth.

He sighed once again and ate the leftovers with tremendous guilt written over his face. It quickly changed as he tasted the incredible bakery made with love.

“I suppose this is delicious.”

“The stomach has spoken!”

They ate to their heart’s content.

“Ahhh! This is the life…” she said as she rubbed her full tummy.

“It’s a bit strange though. Did you even notice how long we’ve been here? Mr. Farmer would be scolding us around this time.”

“Let’s go check out the barn then,” she immediately rushed to the direction of the barn, a rectangular two story building with an elevated middle section and a large wooden door in the front. The closer they got to the barn, the louder they heard the screams of the livestock, who were frightened for some reason. Celosia opened the barn door and then just stood there speechless.

“Hey, don’t open it for long or he’ll catch us,” Chroma approached Celosia and then she quickly closed the door, grabbed Chroma’s arms, and ran away as fast as she could with panic obvious in her body language.

“Hey, what the hell?”

“SHUT UP!!!” she kept running, dragging him until they heard the barn door collapse, creating debris that inevitably hit their backs, tripping them. The dust from the destruction covers the barn.

“Chroma, get ready.”

“W-What happened? Hey! What did you even see?”

“…Mr. Farmer is dead.”

 

A huge silhouette appeared from the dust. A loud bird-like screech echoed from the barn. The shadow slowly revealed itself. Huge, brilliant, feathery scythe-shaped red wings with a bloody pseudo-beak on its head, slime dripping off its brown scale-covered body and limbs with sharp claws in the end. It was…

“…a coatl! What is it doing here in the capital?! They’re not supposed to be even here in the Auster Peninsula!” the knowledge Chroma learned in the lectures from the Oracle doesn’t seem to match reality.

“H-Hey! Let’s run!”

Celosia added tension to her arms, posture solid, and senses sharpened to prepare for any sudden movement the enemy makes while her mind is calculating the precise move they must make at the exact moment, something she wasn’t allowed to do before because of hunger fatigue.

“Are we actually fighting this thing?!”

“Whatever the reason, I’m glad I brought my weapon.”

She placed her hands on her right chest, breathes deeply, and stated her conclusion.

“Let’s do this. We can’t let anybody die again.”

The coatl charged towards them and swiped with its wing. Celosia quickly rolled, “Art of Red: 8!”, and did a roundhouse kick that radiated flames. The monster’s wings burned for only a brief time but the strong winds from its flapping smothered it. Immediately after Chroma cast an Art, they tried to escape but the coatl blocked their way again and attacked. Celosia did the same moves again and again. After a while, starting to be tired, Celosia saw no other way.

“Damn it! Chroma, call for the guards. I’ll fight this alone!”

“Wait! Look at the ground!”

It seems that the slime that kept dripping from the monster was caught on fire with their Arts.

“The smoke from the fire! If we keep up the flames, the city guards might notice! Keep using sweeping flames!” Just as planned, more and more flames covered the area.

“It’s working!” But the coatl was also starting to be distressed by the fire and so, it raised both of its arms and an orange glow appeared in its wings, and did an extremely powerful spin, effectively extinguishing the flames to their dismay.

“Well, bloody Vulcan! Hopefully that was enough to catch their attention.”

The sweat-covered exhausted Celosia offered her friend once again,

“Go.”

“I-I can’t,” Her friend intensely refused, “to leave you alone right now would be-”

“Nothing I can do then,” cuts Celosia, “I knew you would saw something like that.”

Sighing, she kept up her stance once again, fully drenched from her sweat as her heart beats the quickest in her life. With the pair side-by-side, the monster swiftly charged. This time, successfully flinging Celosia far with its kick.

“Celosia!”

 

Chroma rushed to her side and it was then that the sky turned dark. With a single gaze to the heavens, a myriad of colors invaded their eyes as a majestic creature of plumed wings and tails descends from the sky. It was very similar to the coatl with its pseudo-beak, but it has a large crest on its head, and the luster of its scale is so great that it acts like a mirror. It was the first time both saw such a creature. The creature screeched so intensely that the coatl was taken aback, saving the two from their life’s ends.

“Catch!” a voice of a woman came from above and two shadows fell towards Chroma and he caught it. It was two pouches with some liquid inside.

“Good job, you two. But leave this to me.” With vibrant strands of hair fall acting like curtains for a performance, the person landed in front of them.

“Who are you?!”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m a huntress.” Chroma pulled the injured Celosia away from the battle and they ran before they could take a good look at her, only saving one more crucial information about their savior.

“Pluvian. It was a Pluvian.” In contrast to the purity of their color, a Pluvian is a mixture of the different colors of the rainbows, whether it be their skin, eyes, or even hair color.

“Agh!” Too much strain from her stomach made her paralyzed, not far enough to be out of the danger.

“Hey! Are you alright?!”

“Of- *cough* course not!” Celosia collapsed to the ground. She was only able enough to say, “The- pou- *cough*” as bits of blood came out of her mouth.

Chroma rapidly checked the pouches and removed her armor, and lifted her stitched clothes high enough to see the perfectly curved waists of Celosia, where she was hurt. Before he became embarrassed at looking at the body of his friend, he poured one of the fluids at her built abs, and the other she let her drink.

“These are potions. One is a potion for wound healing, the other for pain relief.” The wounds on her stomach instantly healed, as if nothing happened.

“Amazing. I feel better now. First time I took a potion. How did you know these are potions?”

“Although not exact, they look familiar to what was thought in Alchemy. You should to listen to the master sometimes.”

“I just find potions boring. Anyways…”

They looked behind to see a fight that is only comparable to those written in legends. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue. Each of the respective Arts used by the one person. Her agility matched that of the most fearsome wyverns when she barely has any armor on. Only with a white cotton shirt, black leather pants with a pouch belt, and a tooth dagger, she was able to drive the coatl back. But not without some consequences. With a final swipe before escaping, her companion monster was brutally hurt. She screamed towards the pair in a language that the two cannot understand.

"빨리! 나는 물약이 필요해!"

“What is it saying?”

“How would I know Pluvian?”

“*cough* Sorry... I speak Crimsonian too.”

The stranger took a quick sip at one of her pouches to heal some of her wounds.

“Fuck. I don’t have enough for my quetzodactyl.”

“What about you? You’re bleeding!” says the concerned Chroma.

“This is nothing. You still have some of those potions earlier?”

Chroma, with Celosia behind him, gave what remained of the potions to the Pluvian. The Pluvian applied the potion to the wounded part of her quetzodactyl. The monster gave a loud, harsh, piercing cry of pain, scaring the Crimson duo to the ground. It was at that time that the guards arrived.

“Halt! Pluvian trespasser! You’re going with us.” With spears pointed at her face, she had no choice.

“I have no choice.”

“Yeah. You have no choices here, Pluvian,” commented Celosia in a clear, hostile way.

“Ok, brat.”

Celosia was ready to go on a rampage if not for Chroma’s effort to stop her.

 

“What are you two children doing here?! It’s dangerous here, somebody died!”

“Legionary, these are not just children,” the legionary salutes to the intimidating aura behind him.

“They are of the Scarlet and Velvet families.”

The legionary, the soldiers of the military, is the lowest position in the military. It looks like someone of a higher status also came to the scene. But they didn’t expect a legate, commander of a legion of ten thousand soldiers, to come. He is man far older than them, obvious from his eyes ripe with experience.

“Oh, it’s just the boozer-” Celosia got a smack in the head from the legate.

“Okay, okay! Ahem. Mr. Vermillion!”

Chroma salutes the commander, “Mr. Vermillion, I’m sorry yet again for Celosia’s stupidity!”

“What are you doing here?” Said Mr. Vermillion with a very friendly tone as he scratched his head of pink hair.

“You don’t need to salute me, Chroma. You’re not a soldier yet.“ He pulls out a notebook from his red toga.

“There are numerous sightings of a large wyvern roaming around…let’s see… Cremeria, Rosilva, Vulcanus, Luctunia, Akaryu, and basically every major city in the Empire. These soldiers reported strange smoke coming from here, so I just had to go. Fortunately it’s just a coatl. We were lucky only one person died.” He removed the piece of laurel placed on his left ear, crouched, and bowed his head.

“Mr. Farmer. May his soul rest in peace.” Everyone else followed suit.

“It’s your last day here,isn’t it? I heard from my daughter.” It was almost Favi, the rare moment when the twin moons align and causes the three volcanoes to erupt. This is the day for honoring the dead, and to do so, one must collect special materials for a massive festival.

“Yeah! Cherry’s coming with us!”

“I see… be sure to protect her, okay?” Even though one can just buy the materials in the market in a city, it has become a tradition for the Crimson teenagers to travel all over the Empire and do quests at the guild that will reward the materials.

“Of course!” He proceeded to smack both of them, “Don’t fight monsters you can’t clearly handle! Children, I swear…” Celosia almost forgot but it was very obvious with her torn armor. Twirling his moustache, he said farewell.

“Good luck. Meanwhile, I have some business to do,” pertaining to the trespasser.

Chroma and Celosia stared at each other until Mr. Vermillion was out of their sight, and they let out a huge sigh of relief.

“I…I thought I was going to die.” Chroma was on the verge of tears.

“Same. Mr. Vermillion sure is scary, unlike Cherry.”

“Uhhh… I was talking about the Coatl.”

Celosia does a powerful pose with her wheeler and declares, “Huh? As long as you’re with me, no monster will ever kill you!”

“Whatever,” a slight blush appeared in Chroma’s face.

“Let’s go to the guild. Cherry and Marcus are waiting.”

---

“Where have you guys been?!”

Four teenagers are gathered in a table, two of them rapidly gobbling up everything served. It was a massive rectangular hall of polished basalt, with tables all over the place. And it was not only them that was there, for there was also people around their age, some eating, some taking quests from the counter, but all for preparation for Favi. It was the Guild, the huge building with five crimson pillars at its main entrance with its distinct three-pointed insignia at the front. Although people of other colors are intimidated at the bizarre architecture of the Crimson, it was a place of comfort for the red people because it reminds them of the dark embrace of the night as the iconic flag of the empire with its crimson chevron piercing through its black and white bands empowers their souls.

“Sorry Cherry, what happened was-” That was Celosia’s chance to steal the massive chicken leg at his plate and of course, she devoured it like bear who just went out of hibernation.

“Hey!”

Crabs, shrimps, lobsters, beef, almost everything you could ask for was already in her plate, but there was no chicken.

“There was no chicken, see!”

Cherry slams the table with a stern face, resulting in a red wine spilling a bit in the middle section of her long toga just around her thighs.

“Bloody hell, you two,” and then pouts, “We’re in a public place. You’re embarrassing us.”

“Embarrassment or chicken, my choice is clear.” Celosia pointed to Cherry with the bitten drumstick.

“We can’t help it. We used so much art today.”

“What for?”

“You see…”

“…”

“Oh no… Mr. Farmer.”

They all grieve for a moment.

“But there was a huntress, you say?” Marcus, who was silent for a while, had his eyes light up with enthusiasm through his thick curly black hair.

“Yeah. You were always interested in hunters, aren’t you?” comments Chroma.

“People who travel all over the world, protecting citizens, training for years to learn all kinds of art of fighting, having knowledge of various forms of alchemy, chasing the most fearsome monsters in existence. So… so bloody cool!” Marcus kept talking with fervor about hunters, much like a child who tasted chocolates for the first time.

“Oh… here he goes again with his jabber.” Feeling hopeless to discipline the group, Cherry just lets them go.

“Too bad, Marcus. The huntress that we saw was… a Pluvian.”

Everyone went silent.

“Yeah. An affront to everything we know. Her skin is an appalling fusion of every hue out there. Her hair is just like a rainbow. Just the thought makes me so nauseated. Bloody motleys.” The guild was filled with shocked gasps.

 

Sadly for Celosia, nobody but her cared about what she’s rambling about. They were just concerned for her, for that motley was behind her.

“Motley… I haven’t heard that in a long time.” Celosia remained unfazed, faithful to her words as she sat still in her chair, her movements turned more refined.

She peered into her eyes and says, “You’re just a huntress, you can’t hurt me.”

“True. Unlike your bigoted mouth, I have a moral code to follow.” As if she was used to it, she brushed it off like nothing.

“Hmph.”

“We’re so sorry, Miss Huntress! Even though you saved our lives earlier… You ought to be grateful, Celosia!”

It was the first time they got a first proper look at a Pluvian, and a huntress Pluvian at that. It was obvious from her upright posture the years of experience she had, far beyond their wildest imaginations. They felt tense as if a cold wind chills their bodies just by being near her very presence. In her cotton clothes was also a bunch of stitch marks, and her belt unpolished unlike how a professional tailor might make them. Her skin covered in multiple scars, her face prominently featuring claw marks on her right cheek, and eye bags suggesting her numerous sleepless nights. She is not someone to be messed with. She was holding a tooth dagger so large that it must’ve come from a monster the size of the very building they’re on, catching Marcus’ attention.

“You’re wondering about this dagger? Ah! It’s from that wanker from the Yellow Mountains. Huge lad, but slow enough for me to get one of its tooths.”

Everyone except Celosia is in utter awe. The Pluvian seats at an empty chair and places the dagger on the table. “Here, you can touch it.”

Marcus was so eager to touch the dagger that he got careless and cut his finger.

“Ack!”

Celosia slams her fist on the table.

“I knew we shouldn’t trust these goddamn Pluvians!” Like the smoke on a fire, Celosia’s anger escapes. The huntress just facepalms.

“Children sure are dumb…”

She grabb a pouch from her belt, “This drop of sap from a Ygg tree should immediately stop the bleeding.”

She lets out a drop of the sap to Marcus’ finger and sure enough, the bleeding stopped.

“Next time, learn how to hold a dagger.”

“Thank you so much, Miss Huntress!”

“I knew those potions came from a tree sap, though I never heard of a Ygg tree before.”

“Ygg trees are native to the deep forests of the green people. I’m guessing from your salty friend here that most of you don’t get out of the red lands, don’t you?”

“We are a proud Empire and the people are proud of our heritage!”

Chroma silently laughed embarrassingly at Celosia’s words and switched his gaze to the Pluvian, “Anyways… Why are you here?”

“Yeah, how did you escape?? You should be in prison right now.” Celosia interrogated her while eating her drumstick with a knife and fork, atypical of her as she is usually barbaric when eating.

“That reminds me… you,” she points at Cherry, “you’re the daughter of that commander, aren’t you?”

“Y-yeah. Why?”

“And I’m assuming you four are together on this ‘Favi’ traveling-around-the-Crimson-Empire thing, yes?”

Somehow, Celosia started feeling sick.

“Yes?”

“I see. Your father told me to accompany you.”

 

In unison, they all went “What?!” but each with a different reason.

“Dad?! Gosh, I wish he stopped treating me like a child!” Cherry fiddled with her hair out of frustration. Celosia grabbed Cherry by the shoulders.

“Cherry! What is wrong with your father?! Asking a Pluvian for help?”

“Why did he ask for a huntress to escort us? I reckon the wyvern is more dangerous than I thought.” Chroma wonders as he sips from his wine glass.

Marcus looked at the grand ceiling of the guild and gets lost in thought, “That means I can watch a huntress fight the whole journey? Awesome.”

“Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not particularly interested in you children. Your father promised me to take care of my moribund quetzodactyl. Poor lass. But more importantly…”

She then stood up and forcefully took one of the quests posted on the quest board near their table at the entrance of the hall. She read it to them out loud.

“Urgent Request: A strange, rainbow-colored wyvern has been seen and terrorizing villages all over the Empire. Numerous Crimson hunters have fallen from the wyvern already, therefore only the finest hunters should take this quest. I, Dux Rosilva Vermillion, asks for the assistance of a hunter to slay the beast. I will personally reward anyone ******** coppers who brings its head.”

She faces the group and declares, “I’ll be taking this quest. And I’ll accompany you too.”

Everyone felt shock and awe to this Pluvian who dared to take the most feared quest to be posted in the guild. Even Celosia was humbled for a bit.

“That much coppers will allow you to buy a small village!”

“Miss huntress, what should we call you?” asks Cherry, who felt defeated after hearing the two requests by her father leaving her no choice but to get babysitted.

“I’m Prism, That should be enough.” Looking bored, she ordered one glass of wine.

“When do we start?”

Chroma informed Prism, “After noon. We’ll go and get our stuff that we need except for Cherry, who has her stuff in the village near here.”
Chroma, Celosia, and Marcus stood up and prepared to leave.

“I see. I’m gonna stay here with her then.”

“Cherry, be careful.” Celosia then whispers loudly in Cherry’s ear, “She might be a spy.”

“I’m not a spy. For fuck’s sake.”

Chroma said farewell, Celosia just glared, and Marcus bowed while smiling at Prism. Now, only Cherry and Prism remain on the table.

“Soooo… have you seen an actual cherry tree before?”

“Yeah. Those white flowering trees in that weird island with apples.”

“No. Bloody. Way.” A new flame has been ignited in Cherry’s heart as her eyes grew wider.

---

“I’m home!”

An aura of relief radiated from Celosia as she found refuge from the inevitable rocky journey that lies ahead. As always, her father, the giant, beefy, manly looking man, stopped tending the bush berries and rushed to his daughter, hugged her, and gave her a headpat.

“Cely!”

“Father! This is embarrassing! I’m 15 already!” she says as her face turn more red.

“Aww, come on! You can call me ‘Papa’ or ‘Daddy’! It’s finally time for your Favi… Aahhhh! I’ll miss you! It’s gonna be a long adventure! Nooo! I’m gonna be alone here in this mansion!”

“I’m here with you though, Igni. Sheesh! Celosia, can you believe this is ‘The Famed Hero of the Empire!’ or something like that. Why did even marry this guy?”

“Lis! I’ll remind you with my awesome, amazing powers!”

The fully bearded man started flexing his manly muscles and displayed his manly-manliness with his manly fire, “Art of Red: 127!” and magnificent white flames burst from his manly body, accidentally burning some of the bush berries in their garden.

“Oh noooo!!! My berries!!!”

Both mother and daughter refused to look at as their loved one haphazardly tried to put out the fire, “Oh my Vulcan… anyhow, are you preparing to leave, Cely?”

“Yeah, mom.” Celosia, with Solis chasing her, rushed into the mansion and into her room and shuts the door before her mom couldenter.
She rummaged though her closet, got some clothes and some copper coins.

“Oh, I heard Dux hired a huntress to help you guys.”

“Yeah, yeah… a Pluvian huntress.” Then she opened a box full of metallic stuff and grabbed a dagger and some tips and whetstones for her weapon, puts them all in a backpack made from two wooden planks wrapped with strong, thin fibers with two suspender belts.

“And of course,” she puts on a necklace of pearls with a patterned choker of some sort in her neck. She, then, looked at the mirror.



“Perfect.”

With Solis’ arts, she was able to open the door, although it broke.

“Wow! My daughter is so beautiful!” Celosia blushed again and dashed to leave.

“But a motley? That’s crazy! I always knew Dux was soft but to be so desperate as to hire a motley…”

Igni overheard the conversation and adds his cup of tea, “Motleys are degenerates, I tell you. Worse race out there. Even other purebloods are more tolerable than them. Don’t let It fool you, Celosia.”

“Yeah yeah. Bye bye, Mom! Father!”

“Take care, Cely!!!” The parents teared up a bit for their chick has left the nest.

“You think she’ll be alright with the war and the other stuff going on?” the mother asks out of concern.

“She has my blood, she’ll be safe.” She proceeded to embrace the warmth of her husband.
________________________________________________________________

476 steps later, Chroma entered the grand, crimson palace carved from the Puella volcano. With a strange sorrow on his eyes, he opened the massive door.

“Welcome home, Master Chroma.” A file of Orange servants lined up the vast corridor of the foyer with ornate obsidian pillars flanking the carpeted pathway towards the central stairs with marble statues of Chroma’s forefathers from time to time as he passes the tapestry ever so slightly covering the vaulted dome ceiling.

They were ordered from lowest ranking at the front to the highest near the end of the line, signified by their attires from tattered rags to smooth silk dresses. The head maid, an orange woman with long straight hair wearing a red floral crown approached him. Despite being the tallest, she is still only at shoulder length of Chroma, who isn’t fully grown.

“Master Chroma, today is your leave for Favi. As such,” with two claps, several maids and footmen appeared each holding a sack, “I personally prepared several materials ready to be carried for your utmost convenience, with each sack containing basic needs such as food, clothes, water, potio-”

“You don’t need to do these things, you know?” He tried to hide his anger by relaxing his tense muscles and wrinkled face, “I already told you that you don’t need to act like… slaves with me. Also h-how am I supposed to carry all of these?”

“I’m sorry Master, but Master Togra commanded us that we do so. She also appointed her to be with you for the duration of your travels, especially to carry your things.” With one arm extended, the head maid introduced another maid who’s wearing a relatively normal red toga. 

“Apoy.”

Dark memories immediately invaded Chroma’s mind, flashing back to a damp, dark place with air so thick that it's hard to breathe inside.

"Pick one my child. Is that the one you want?"

“Yes.”

He saw an inferno swirling in those eyes behind the iron bars in front of him.

“She’s the one.”

 

 

The chosen assistant for Chroma kept tugging his tunic.

“Master Chroma?” He realized he’s back to reality.

Like a child concerned for his father, she exclaims, “Are you alright?”

“Of… course.”

He closed his heavy eyes and then asks, “Before anything else, can you even carry all of that?” referring to the various sacks.

She flexes one of her arms and declares, “No problem!” and went to grab every sack from the hands of the other servants, making it seem as light as feathers of a duck.

“With strength like that, how did they even get conquered…” Chroma pondered.

“If it’s father’s words, then I have no choice. Let’s go, Apoy.”

---

“Wow! I never heard of anyone eating wyvern meat before!”

“It tastes good, similar to crocodiles.”

“Crocodiles? What are those?”

Celosia was dissatisfied at the scene happening before her eyes, “Cherry! Why are you getting along with this Pluvian!”

With all the wild stories she’s been told, Cherry found herself defending Prism.

“Celosia, she’s fine. She knows so much about monsters and trees! She’s not a spy.”

“There’s four of you, you can easily kill me if I was a spy.”

Celosia swiftly went towards Prism and threatened her in the neck with one of her double glaive’s tips, grazing some of her skin to the point of bleeding.

“You… bleed red.”

“Yeah. Seems that red is my dominant gene. But wow, that stings you know.”

Cherry lightly slapped the face of Celosia and screams, “Celosia! What the hell?! Now’s not the time to-”

Prism proceeded to hand chop Celosia’s arm and punched her face before Celosia can process what’s happening.

“You might not know this, but we can actually fight back for self-defense.”

The downed Crimson gal calmed down and rethinked her opinions.

“That speed she had right now… This sinking feeling in my heart tells me to not seriously mess with her again.” In a plodding fashion, she stoodup and offered a handshake to Prism.

“I’m sorry. I can at least not hurt you.”

“Still no trust, eh? Whatever.” She accepted her half apology.

Every other person on the guild went back to their own businesses after the fight has ended. Marcus was the next to return to the guild, now also wearing a white cotton shirt and black leather pants with a pouch belt. He felt a strange tension in the air as he sat in one of the two empty seats.

“Somehow I felt like I missed something.”

Cherry breaks the ice by laughing at Marcus’ attire, “What is that?! Are you a hunter now? Pffft! Hahahahha!”

He looked toward Prism for approval.

“Look kid, you need armor. I don’t. You’ll get hurt fighting.”

“Don’t I look cool! This cotton is harvested from Luctunia and the leather from the largest cows and…”

Everyone just remained silent with a look of disappointment.

“Vulcandamnit.” Marcus shuts up utterly defeated.

“By the way, where is Chroma?”

“He should be here in a minute...” Said Celosia 20 minutes ago.

“Did anyone hear that?” Cherry wondered.

Everyone focused on their sense of hearing. Prism says, “It’s sounds like a…”

“Help!” A sweat-filled Orange maid appeared before them looking frantic.

“…scream.”

Celosia recognized the girl.

“You’re Chroma’s slave… What happened to him?!”

 

“Cremeria is being attacked by multiple coatls! I repeat, Cremeria is being attacked by multiple coatls! We need assistance from all adventurers and hunters!”

A voice magically-enhanced by an art covered the entire capital. Shrieks from coatls can be heard from every corner as the group rushed towards where Apoy has guided them. They got bruised from the ensuing stampede caused by the panic of the masses crossing the narrow bridges, eventually reaching the iconic city triangle with the statue of the current emperor and the hero standing proudly with burning torches in their hands pointed towards the scorching noon sun. Chroma is fighting several small coatls and the large one they fought earlier.

“We got to help him!” cries Celosia.

Prism, as fast as the wind, charged towards the large one and commanded them.

“I’ll fight this one, you go get her young!”

And so it was agreed. The four teenagers fought intensely, each of them assigning each other different roles. Celosia and Chroma were the front liners, using her wheeler to channel her red arts and Chroma his large rectangular shield, slightly-cylindrical to block attacks from the sides and occasionally slashing with his Gladius sword. Cherry acts as the rear guard by chanting multiple arts ranging from enormous ballistic fireballs to rapid pebble-sized ember and enchanting the frontliners by engulfing their bodies with flames to hurt nearby enemies. Marcus is an archer, firing a barrage of arrows sharpened enough to pierce bedrock using a very tall Yumi bow… well he’s supposed to be.

“Marcus, what the hell are you doing with that dagger?! Even I know how to use one!” he zigzagged towards a coatl.

"Mate... you just don't understand my amazing skil-"

...only to be almost clawed in the face if not for Chroma.

“Vulcan! You need to be more care-”

Celosia beheaded some of the monsters creeping behind the boys and rushed back towards Cherry.

“Why the fuck are you two talking while in battle?!”

“Aaaaack!” Cherry was almost overwhelmed but Celosia cameto the rescue. She pulled everyone back to form a more sensible circular formation.

"Fucking hell, fight with all your heart!"

 

Spotting its injured leg from earlier, Prism continued her fight using her tooth dagger. Every swipe and peck from the coatl, she avoided with amazing acrobatic backflips and rolling and then she countered with spells they’ve never seen before. Celosia was secretly observing Prism’s moveset and noticed that she doesn’t say a single word despite the flurry of ice and fire coming from her. After a few minutes, all the young of the coatl in the city triangle was killed, prompting the group left Prism behind to help others as she is more than capable of handling the boss monster on her own. The guards were effective using their shields and spears by doing a wall like formation and poking whenever a coatl charges, and with the help of the group, met their ends. It seemed that the only one left is the one Prism is fighting and it is most likely the main culprit of the attack.

The legionnaire guards rested on the ground and the legate removed his bronze helm and thanked the group.

“Thanks for your help, teens. Is that the last of them?”

“No, Mr. Vermillion. There’s still a large one at the city triangle.”

They rushed back only to see the carcass of the boss coatl and Prism carving its skin, removing its claws, and collecting its gooey secretions ... to the disgust of the Crimson people that witnessed the scene:

 

“What is she doing to that corpse?”

“Isn’t that the job of the Oranges?”

”Filthy Pluvian.”

Those were the thoughts of the red people for only Prism knew the value of the tough skin of an adult coatl as armor and the price of its essence when appraised by an alchemist. Strangely, Celosia felt she was the only one who understood her actions.

“Celosia! And Friends!” a burly, bloody, manly man appeared before them.

“Hero!”

“Father. Did you also help kill lots of the coatl?”

“Nah. I only killed one that entered our house. More importantly…”

 

He went towards the platform near the statues that bear his image and did a speech with so much power that he didn't need it to be magically-enhanced.

“Friends, Crimsons, countrymen, lend me your ears;
The evil that monsters do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones,
So let it be with-”

Celosia, in spite of knowing this side of her father, is still amazed at how different he is compared to at home. Her friends tell their veneration to the hero.

“So are they all, all honourable men–
Come I to speak in for the legion and the adventurers.
And they are friends, faithful and just to Cremeria!”

 

The crowd went wild and cheered for the guards and the group. Various flowers like roses and silk cloths was thrown at them, a tradition for the Cremerians city-folk whenever a legion comes home from the war. The group was filled with glee, but not so much for Celosia. In her mind, the greatest hero in that moment was the huntress, slayer of that fearsome Coatl. Instead of her pride going up, it was shattered.

“Chroma.”

“What, Celosia?”

With regretful anger in her tone, amidst the enamored crowd, she promised to him.

“Someday… I’ll earn my own pride.”

 

After the lengthy speech by Igni, another familiar face greeted them.

“Master!”

“I have watched your great deeds from the shadows and come to praise you. Chroma, your caring nature towards your comrades is a sign that you are indeed worthy of being a prince of this Empire. Celosia, your vicious and cunning prowess reminds me of your father. You will also be a hero of this nation. Cherry, bravely standing against the tides of your enemies, you will be a protector of the Empire. And you, Marcus, curious enough to test every style will further your knowledge of the world. All of you, you are all worthy to be my students and for Favi.”

They sprinted towards their master and they formed a group hug, all of them with a tad bit of tears in their eyes. The master just laughed with so much satisfaction in his face. It was their final day here in Cremeria and after an eventful afternoon, this is a moment that they will treasure forever.

---

“Here’s 50,000 coppers for your assistance a while ago!”

Because of multiple witnesses and personal praise from The Master of the Art of Red, The Legate of the Seventh Legion: Dux Rosilva Vermillion, and from The Hero of the Second Invasion of the Orange: Igni Kokai Velvet, the group has received the largest amount of copper from the guild.

“Wow! This is enough to last us the entire journey! I can’t wait to buy new daggers!” excitedly says Marcus.

Cherry hits back, “Use a bow! You stupid.”

Chroma, looking side-to-side, caught the attention of Celosia.

“What’s the matter?”

He finally stopped when he finally saw Prism at the entrance.

“Ah. There she is.” He proceeded to grab the one of the five pouches at the table. He smiled at Prism and handed her one of the pouches.

“Here. 10,000 coppers. We’re a five-man group, it makes sense to split 50,000 equally.”

"...sure. Whatever."

She accepted the coppers and so, it was their time to leave the city. On the main road to leave Cremeria, every passerby recognized them and congratulated them for a job well done and tells them farewell for a safe journey (only towards the Crimson teens). At the edges of the city where more and more trees and blood grass dominate the vision, Chroma looked up at the falling sun and wished to the first stars of the night.

“Mother… I’ll be back.”

---

“You’re someone who’ll do great things someday.” A mother hugs her newborn.
“I swear to protect you my whole life.” Says the father as he holds his child’s tiny palm.