The Legend of Arcana

Chapter 1

A loud noise suddenly sounded from outside. I opened my eyes quickly, all traces of sleep disappearing from my mind. Getting up, I stuck my head out the window cautiously, hoping nobody saw me.

"Get your pickled fish, tarot card decks, and taxidermied horse legs!" a hawker pulling a cart yelled. "Only for nine Silver Bronze each! Get them now!"

I rolled my eyes and walked over to my small, ragged suitcase. Inside, my clothes lay there, along with a picture of my parents. They had been killed by Night Pox around six years ago, when the epidemic of Night Pox was finally going away. No one knew where the disease even came from, but it spread like wildfire. Then, the king and his scientists quickly found a cure for it. Everyone was healed, except for my parents. The cure didn't work on them. But when my parents died, our house was demolished and the land put up for auction. I quickly changed into my day clothes and pulled on my traveling cloak, making sure I had a knife concealed in my inner pocket. You never knew what lurked in the alleys around here. Stepping out of the dilapidated door and clutching a bag, I headed over to Azure Square. The familiar sight and smells of the Twilight Market hit me. I pulled out my wallet and counted out how much Silver Bronze I had made from the last job I held, an internship at a rubber duck company. Luckily, the payment made up for the job. I had about twenty-four Silver Bronze, so hopefully that would be enough for food. Putting my wallet away, I surveyed the carts and stalls before me. There were fresh apples, oranges, magnetic utensils, writing paper, books, and all sorts of other things spread out before me. I decided to get some grape pastry first, since it had been ages since I last had some. And Pierto would be at his tent about now.

"Morning Pulsar! Good to see you! What'll it be?" Pierto asked, smiling. Pierto was a strong, burly guy, but had one of the softest hearts.

"Two grape pastries, please," I replied, grinning. He smiled back kindly, then walked to the back of his tent, where the oven was. Pierto had become someone close to a parent to me since my parents died. He was a close family friend, and he was usually around my house, especially when my parents held dinner parties.

"Here you go, Pulsar. Two pastries, on the house," he said, typing into his mirror phone, a receipt printing out from a printer. "My treat."

"Oh, no, I can't-"

"Nonsense! Here, take it," he said throwing the bag with the pastries in it. "You know, my offer still stands."

"Pierto, I'm fine. I wouldn't do that to you, and I'm fine on my own," I replied.

"If by fine, you mean living in condemned buildings and carrying knives with you, then okay. But my offer still stands."

"How did you-nevermind. Anyway, how goes the search for the stele thingy?"

"You're never going to believe this, but I found one," he said in a hushed tone, looking around. He quickly walked over to the opening into his tent, and closed it.

"What? Where? How? W-" I spluttered.

"Slow down, slow down, and be quiet. Okay, so I found it from a secret collector. He'd found it from a nearby tomb, and sold it to me for 500 Silver Bronze. I took it home, and examined it. It's from before the Viscounts gained power," he rambled excitedly. "I have a picture of it here somewhere..." He turned on his holo-pad, images lighting up in front of him, before stopping at a obscured image. He waved his free hand, and the image became clearer. It was a stone slab, with pictures and marks on it.

"So, I looked through a book of ancient runes I found in the library, and here's what the stele says. I remember the time before the Viscounts. My mother was still alive. She was the head scientist for the last good king of Arcana. She, with her team, had discovered something very powerful. The king was going to provide my mother with more resources to experiment with the newly discovered thing when he was suddenly murdered by his daughter, who was married to Wendigo Viscount two days prior. Viscount forced her to kill her father, or he would kill her. So she did, but she was killed anyway by her husband. Viscount seized the throne, and declared himself the new king. He forced my mother to work for him for a while, but soon killed her, finding out she knew how he gained power. I too will be executed soon, on the grounds of being disloyal," Pierto read.