Chapter Text
Once upon a time on the World of Terrarium there is a certain empire which held power over many others in this world known as the Parva Empire which was recovering from a war between its kingdoms. Within this empire laid the island kingdom of Atlandtide a land which for the most part made it out of this war unscathed, ruled by the kindhearted King Steven “Steve” Atlandtide and his beloved wife the equally kindhearted Caroline “Carly” Atlandtide nee Magiclica. Within the borders of it’s kingdom capital stood five royal guilds each with their talent and specialties. Each of their wizards holding unique magics to one another.
These four royal guilds protected the land under the orders of the Atlandtide royal family. The first and central guild was the Rune Knights, loyal to the grandmaster of Atlandtide Nathanial Arscott. The second was Grimshade, the oldest of Atlandtide’s guilds lead by Micheal “Mike” Grimshade. Next was the Wondering Coins led by Reaper, the most powerful wizard of Atlandtide, respected by all in the land. The third was The Protectors lead by the mysterious Brianna “Bri” Devil.
After the fall of the Rosethrone Guild led by Renona Belltower, caused by a brutal attack that destroyed their guild hall and most of the members. A new royal guild was needed to be chosen. This guild was Divinus Magia. Unlike the other royal guilds, they had two leaders. Twin brothers Richerd “Richie” and Breanainn "Brandon" Diabolus both awed and feared for their magic but what many didn’t know was their unique origins.
You see, unlike the other guild leaders of this land these two twins were from another world called Horadora. Their homeland was known as the Kingdom of Salode under the empire of Emperia. Upon entering Terrarium, the two young boys of eighteen years of age were met with a man warped in a black cloak. He asked the two many questions before forcing a lacriama into each of them. The younger twin Brandon became a sky devil slayer while the older Ritchie became a lighting devil slayer.
Together the Royal Guilds of Atalandtide formed The Grand Magic Council. Today Ritchie would be attending his first ever Grand Magic Council meeting. They woke up early in the morning in their island home that also served as their guild hall. The morning sun shining through the open windows of their bedrooms. Ritchie opened his dark blue eyes and got up and dressed for the day. His outfit consisted of a white shirt with brown cargo pants. Over this was his trademark poncho that was blue with yellow tassels. He accessorized this with a matching yellow bandana with white polka dots which had been a gift from someone dear to him when he was a but a child around his blue hair.
He walked down to their kitchen area to see Brandon cooking breakfast for the two of them. Unlike his brother, Brandon had white hair that faded to black and turquoise eyes. His outfit was much like that of his brother’s but with it was lavender where Ritchie’s was blue and purple where Ritchie’s was yellow. Both of their ponchos had clasp in the shape of their guild’s mark, which represented their membership to their guild, which was tattooed on opposite hands. Ritchie’s on his right and Bran’s on his left.
“Good morning brother. How did you sleep?” Brandon asked has Ritchie took his seat at their dining room table. They had been running the guild for five years now, but they still maintained some of their habits from when they became members of the Wondering Coins when they had been mandated to serve in the royal guilds has a part of their sentences from when their devils took over and they had been taken down by Reaper.
“I slept well enough aside from the usual nightmares for us.” Ritchie admitted softly as they ate their breakfast of pancakes with maple syrup and bacon. “So how do you think the meeting will go?” Richie wondered as he picked up a piece of bacon from his plate.
“Well, if it’s anything like what Father Reaper and the others said it was like it will be slightly chaotic. But the manageable kind of chaos compared to are slightly more chaotic guild. You’re going to be attending while I look after the guild, right?” Brandon muttered softly which caused Ritchie to frown worriedly. Brandon had always been the quieter between the two of them for reasons that Ritchie did not like to think about.
“Yeah… Will you be alright while I’m away brother?” I can always ask one of the others to keep you company while I’m away?” Ritchie asked as he continued eating his breakfast. Brandon shook his head as he mentally went over the paperwork that he needed to do before Ritchie got back.
“No, there’s a lot of paperwork that I need to get done what with the upcoming guild and Rosa is out on a mission at the moment regardless. What with royal guild recruitment day coming up as well as the Grand Magic Games in a few months.” Brandon replied softly as he went over which of the paperwork that he needed to have done soon and which he could save for Ritchie in his head. It had been an agreement between him and Ritchie. Brandon would handle the private half of guild leadership while Ritchie would handle the public aspects as Brandon felt more comfortable with the private side of guild work.
“You always did prefer to keep in the background… Alright, I’ll call you during the break to check though alright?” Ritchie informed him calmly has he had finished his breakfast. Brandon nodded approvingly at this. It was no secret that the brothers did not like to sperate form one another. When they did, they preferred to make sure that they had a means of contacting each other outside of their link which they shared closely.
Very few knew of the telepathic link the twins shared with one another. Not even their guild members knew of their link or of their true origins. The only person who knew the truth about their past was Reaper. All the other royal guild leaders knew was that the twins were from another world. It was one of their most closely guarded secrets. But the past has a way of haunting someone’s present no matter how hard they might try to run from it.
The brothers finished their meals and went their separate ways. There was still some time before the meeting, but Ritchie had some errands to run before the meeting. Frist, he had to run some documents over to the grandmaster’s office, then pick up some medicine and other necessities for the guild then there were groceries for him and his brother’s apartment in the guildhall.
After finishing his errands, he made his way to the grand magic council office building in the royal castle that operated as the government headquarters. They made their way into the Grand magic council meeting hall. The hall was made of marble walls with dark oak wooden floors and a round table with five chairs with banners with a guild’s mark behind them. At the head of the table sat a blond hair man with brown eyes named Nathanial Arscott while the other guild leaders sat around the table.
The guild leaders stood around the room talking to one another. Ritchie noticed Reaper coming up to him with a smile on his face. “Ritchie my boy, I’m glad to see you here in the Grand Magic Council has our newest member. How have you and your brother been?” Reaper asked with a proud and fond smile. He wore black robes with a matching hood and had earth brown hair and blue eyes.
When the brothers had first arrived in this world, they had no control over their newly acquired powers after they were forced upon them. Upon being taken down by Reaper who saw potential within them, they were taken in by him and taught how to control their powers alongside many other important things such as the ways of Atlandtide and guild leadership. To this day the man was still close to the twins. It was far from unusual for the members of Divinus Magia and the Wondering Coins to see the other guild’s leader (or in Divinus Magia’s case leaders) visiting the other’s guild’s leader for a simple visit instead of for guild-related matters.
“My brother and I have been good Father Reaper. The guild is doing well and getting plenty of quests as well and our side business has been doing well too. What about you and Silver? Have the two of been well?” Ritchie asked with a smile, happy to see his former mentor.
Silver was another student of Reaper’s who he had taken in long before the Diabolus twins. He was also next in line to be the leader of the Wondering Coins when Reaper stepped down. A day that was still many years down the line.
“He’s doing well enough. He’s been making great progress in his training and should be ready to take over as third in command soon enough. If all goes well, he will be my third in command while Sheild remains my second.” Reaper boasted with a hint of pride as a man with midnight black hair with a dark purple highlight and deep brown eyes came over to the pair.
“That’s good to hear Reaper. I could tell from our last meeting that Silver has been putting in an enormous effort into his training.” The man said with a hint of interest in his tone. Reaper had been a close friend of Michael’s father who was the pervious guild leader of Grimshade, Jin Umbrason before his passing a few years ago. Upon ascending to the leadership of Grimshade at the age of eighteen Reaper had assisted Micheal in adapting to his new role has a royal guild leader.
“Ah Micheal, good to see you as well. How are you doing? Your family’s been well, I hope. Especially after that resent incident.” Reaper smiled at the younger guild leader happily. Micheal smiled happily has he thought about his family and what they meant to him.
His family wasn’t too big, never had been. At first it had been himself and his parents who were the previous leaders of Grimshade. Then at the age of twelve Diana, his adoptive sister, joined the family. Soon after that, at the age of eighteen he married his long-time girlfriend Lilac and eventually had a daughter named Sabrina. Now his sister, who was dating Ritchie himself, would soon be married to him and as a result he would have not one but two brothers-in-law, not to mention an honorary father-in-law in Reaper. At least that would have been the case if she hadn't disappeared on a quest a month ago.
“Their doing quite well. Sabrina got accepted to Monarchnova’s junior community school’s upper program. Not only that, but we discovered that she has magic. She’s twilight god slayer, a perfect mix of mine and Lilac’s. She’s really excited about learning how to control it. Me and Lilac are working on a training plan for her since the traditional Grimshade training regimen wasn’t exactly made for children, especially ones younger then twelve like her.” Micheal smiled with a mix of pride and concern for his daughter.
“How on earth did such a young child end up gaining magic. God Slayer magic at that?” Reaper wondered aloud noting the eyes of the grandmaster upon him and his two former students. Children in this world typically did not gain stronger magics until they were nearly twelve years of age. Even then it was typically very weak, and they had little to no control over it. That was why there were specialized schools for those who wish to use magic outside of that which was typically taught in regular schools.
“We don’t know for sure, but we think that it has something to do with Sabrina’s recent kidnapping. That, and the fact that when Sabrina was born, I was already a god slayer. The strange part is that before now we haven’t heard of a god of twilight before. Even from the ancient pantheons of earth.” Micheal pondered aloud has explained his thoughts about what had happened to his daughter.
They talked for a few more minutes before the meeting started. Each of the guild leaders took their respective seats marked by the banners which bore their guild’s mark. “Hello everyone and welcome to today’s grand magic council meeting. We have a few topics to go over today so let’s get started. Firstly, I would like to welcome one of the Divinus Magia Guild’s leaders, Richerd Diabolus, to the council.” Nathanial nodded towards the older of the Diabolus twins.
“Thank you, grand master, it’s an honor to have my Divinus Magia designated as one of the five royal guilds. I look forward to working with all of you to ensure the safety of the Kingdom of Atlandtide. I would like to take this opportunity to personally on the behalf of my brother and I to thank Reaper of the Wondering Coins and Micheal of the Grimshade for recommending my brother and I’s guild to become a member of the council.” Ritchie spoke his piece with a smile on his face as he looked at his fellow royal guild leader.
“And it’s a pleasure to have you hear Richerd. Now there are some things that I would like to clear up in regard to you and Brandon both being first in command of your guild, which is the first item on the agenda. It is to my understanding that you will be the one solely attending the Grand Magic Council meetings and other public affairs responsibilities for royal guild leaders while Brandon will be handling the internal affairs?” Nathaniel questioned while looking over his notes.
“Yes, that is indeed correct. My brother tends to prefer staying out of the public eye. Additionally, his mindset is better suited to internal affairs than public affairs. At least that is how he put it when we were discussing how we would handle splitting the responsibilities that come with being guild leader. However, in the event that I am unable to attend a meeting or public event involving the grand magic council my brother will take my place.” Ritchie explained with a nod, having discussed the matter with his brother at length before when they were planning the inner workings of their guild.
“Excellent… Alright then in that case I’ll be sure to send the paperwork for the internal affairs of Divinus Magia to Brandon. Second on the agenda is the matter of the yearly review of the guilds. As always we will start with the common guilds. From what my Rune Knights have reported, the common guilds are doing well for the most part. There are a few that we need to look into a little bit such as Lightwave and Drame Seeker. But other than that, they’re good. Now for the noble guilds on the other hand there is two areas that we need to worry about. Reaper, I believe that you have the information the first one, so um, yeah. You have the floor.” Nathanial nodded to the man next to him.
“Right… The guild in question is known as Egale Feather. Their guild leader’s name is Marcellus Weddall. Recent reports have stated that they have been interfering with another guild called Wolfclaw in the same ward of the Celeari district. To be specific they have been interfering with their quest… This has been confirmed by multiple members of the general public and other guilds with natural relations with the two previously mentioned guilds. A few of my members, Mysteria, Heaven and Ghost, have been sent out to investigate this morning. But they have yet to report back on the matter. I should have it in three day’s time.” Reaper briefed with the usual position that he had when he was attending these meetings.
“Do we know how Egale Feather is interfering with the quests of Wolfclaw? Like do we know or..?” Bri asked as she took notes. Reaper looked at his notes to check and shook his head. This had been a topic that he had expected to be brought up during the meeting but with how recent the development was, there was barely anything for him to report.
“Unfortunately, not. The situation was first discovered a week ago, and brought to my attention by Wolfclaw’s leader Taro Griffenbane yesterday. They have also been busy with investigating reports of abnormal mana signatures in the area but that’s for latter in the meeting to discuss. However, it will not belong until he begin to get a grasp of the situation. With the guild members that I have assigned I believe we should have more information in a few day’s time.” Reaper explained with a frown as he set the notes aside.
“Alight then I suppose that we will have to plan another meeting to discuss that matter in detail. Once we get the information that we need we can form a plan on how to deal with that particular matter. Um, what about you Bri there was an incident with two of the noble guilds under your guild’s supervision right?” Nathanial turned to the leader of The Protectors. Bri nodded and began briefing the guild leaders on what she had learned.
“So, this happened about two weeks ago now. The Fairyglade and Galewave guilds were pursuing a criminal belonging to a dark guild that the protectors have been investigating for the past month known as Reaper’s Hand. One of the Galewind members named Randolph Sullivan was chasing down one of Reaper’s Hand’s member’s named Edison Sherris. Sullivan caught Sullivan and well… Let’s just say he decided to use enough force to put Sullivan in the hospital… Then they prevented a member Fairyglade named Suzanne Anderson, rank S, from helping them when they were nearly bleeding out.
The two guild members that were accompanying Sullivan, Winston Simpson and Hiram Thomas both rank A attacked Suzanne. Three of my members, Wendy Fairweather, Filarian Woodbane, and Grayson Icebreak rank A and Bs respectively intervened when a group of civilians haled them when they were returning from a mission in the nearby district. Filarian ended up in the hospital due to the altercation turning physical.” Bri explained the matter with the calm professionalism that she had been taught by her mentor who was the previous leader of the Protectors.
“Are the injured guild members okay? I’m assuming there were a concerning amount injuries based on the report of excessive force.” Micheal inquired with interest. Bri nodded and pulled up her notes on the incident. Judging from the size of the file being about nine pages Ritchie could only assume that they were pretty serious. Ritchie was not familiar with either with the guilds that had been mentioned by Bri though he did have some familiarity with Wolfclaw as Taro would help Reaper train him and Brandon when they were a part of the Coins and by extension Egalefeather due to unhealthy one-sided rivalry that they had with Wolfclaw.
“Winston and Hiram were detained with minor injuries. Just the standard cuts and bruises from fights… due to the injuries they inflicted on Wendy it was decided by the judge in their case that they will be held without bail… As for Suzanne on the other hand? Uh… she’s not doing to well to put it lightly… She’s in the hospital with critical injuries and will be. If you want to know the details, her guild leader and legal guardian have given me copies of her medical report. I have enough for everyone and have already handed one to the grandmaster. If you want one, please feel free to ask.” Bri explained has she showed a stack a file each with the same label on them.
“I take it that the guild leaders of both guilds have been informed of the incident and briefed on their guild member’s status?” Reaper asked as he looked over his copy of the incident report with a frown. The injuries in the file were pretty serious. If this Suzanne didn’t have healing magic, she would have most likely died of her injuries before healers could arrive. Even then her mana was already so low she just barely had enough to close the most dangerous wounds and she fell unconscious right after healing.
“Yeah, I’ve talked to them and their guild leaders. I’ve had to order Galewave to place their guild members that were involved in this incident on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the criminal case being filed against them. The Fairyglade guild and Suzanne Anderason have both pressed charges against the Galewind guild members involved in the attack for lost wages, medical expenses, and the like. Though the litigation for that case is currently suspended due to the criminal case which is also suspended due to Suzanne being placed in a medically induced coma.” Bri concluded after briefing the other guild leaders on the case.
“How long until this incident can be considered resolved? I’m assuming that it will take a while.” Michael questioned has he looked over the report with concern. One of his guild members had family in the two guilds involved in this incident. He would have to question them about the situation when he returned to his guild hall. But for now he had a meeting to attend to.
“It looks like it will be a little while with the trials being delayed. So… I guess we can just shelve this for another meeting.” Bri suggests with a frown, not liking how they were going to have to wait to finish resolving the incident.
“Looks like it. I think maybe we could role that into the same meeting as the one about the Wolfclaw and Egalefeather guilds? If that’s okay with everyone?” Nathenial checked the group’s reactions. The guild leaders nodded in acceptance and Nathaniel smiled. “Alright then, I will send out the memo on when that meeting will be then. Reaper, Bri uh… keep me posted on those so that I can work on figuring out the appropriate date for that meeting.”
“Alright, then in that case I believe that we can move on to the royal guilds. Aside from the fall of the Rosethrone guild which is its own issue, and Divinus Magia guild settling into its new role as a royal guild I don’t believe that there are any other issues for us to talk about, and we can move on to the next topic. Any objections?” Nathaniel asked as he looked at the guild leaders. When there were no objections, he nodded and smiled at his fellow council members. “Great then we can move on to our next topic, the Rosethrone incident.
Has you all already know aside from Richard, We recently lost the royal guild of the western sector of the kingdom, The Rosethrone guild, The Rune Knights have been investigating the incident, but we have yet to come up with anything. Now since Ritchie here is new to the council, I would like to give him a review of the incident at least what he have yet to release to the public.
As you know Richerd the Rosethrone Guild was attacked and destroyed with only six out of seventeen members surviving. What the public wasn’t told was that there were some suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths. The wizards that were killed were taken out by magics that would be considered an ideal match for the attackers. For example, Drena Lightingbane was going up against water mage. They also seemed to have a concerning amount of knowledge over the guild hall layout.” Nathaniel explained with a frown.
“I see… I thought that the magic of wizards that belong to royal and noble guilds were kept private form the general public because of their importance to Atalandtide’s security… aren’t the ” Ritchie commented in concern as he looked over the notes that he had been handed on the incident when he arrived at the meeting hall. Having been a member of the Wondering Coins himself alongside his brother during the time that they were serving their sentence he knew some of the intricacies behind the royal guilds.
“Yes, that is correct, which makes it all the more concerning that such a thing happened in the first place. Especially with what it implies for the royal guilds.” Micheal frowned at what that meant. The spirits were screaming at him that his instincts about this matter were right and that he needed to be cautious. He trusted his guild, that much was true, but he knew well from his training that someone who seemed to be an ally may just be an enemy in disguise.
“Yes, that summarizes it pretty nicely. Now, The Rune Knights have been investigating the incident. But we haven’t made much progress. The Dark Guild that did this covered their tracks very well, very well.” Nathaniel nodded as he looked across the room. Reaper frowned unbelievingly at the statement unseen to Nathaniel’s eyes. “Reaper, how goes the investigation on your end? According to my reports you’ve taken in the survivors.” Nathaniel questioned the wondering coins guild leader.
“The survivors don’t know anything… They were out on a mission during the attack.” Reaper explained with a frown. Ritchie noticed Reaper made a gesture that he knew was directed at him and was meant to say that he wanted to talk in private after the meeting. But why would he do that? Ritchie would have to ask him about it after the meeting when they were alone. The second to last topic that the meeting had to cover was guild recruitment week.
Guild recruitment week was an event that happened immediately after school got out for summer break. At that time many wizards who had freshly graduated from their schools were looking for work among the guilds of Atlandtide and eventually guilds in the other kingdoms in the Parva Empire. So, it was decided that at the end of each school year the guilds would gather to advertise themselves to not only newly graduated wizards but also wizards that were looking to change guilds, being ordered to complete mandatory guild service and more. It was a time for guilds that were looking to build up their rosters to do so without having to actively look for members. All they had to do was sign up for the various events that happened throughout the week, and they would for the most part come out of it with at least a few new members.
Ritchie already knew that he and his brother were planning on participating in the mandatory guild service day. Where wizards that had been sentenced to mandatory guild service were brought in to help them find a guild to serve their sentence with. It was a few months down the line yet, but Ritchie knew that the grand magic council was responsible for organizing the events of the week such as the venues and getting the census of which guilds would be attending each day.
Soon the meeting ended, and Ritchie approached Reaper with a worried look on his face, he handed him a note then left, but not before telling Ritchie to only open the letter and read it when they were back at the guild hall. Something that Ritchie found odd. Reaper only did something like this when he was trying to avoid someone learning something important that only the recipient of the note was meant to know. With that thought in mind Ritchie quickly made his way back to his home where he could talk to his brother in private.