(Friday, 8th of Dawnstar Moon, 2021)
"Are you sure you aren't bringing the bolt action with you?"
"I'm sure."
Jack was currently at the train station with his aunt, uncle, and cousins. Today was the day he left for Sanctuary with his friends. Jack had a suitcase with him, carrying all the necessities he would need for Sanctuary. Since Sanctuary uses a dorm system and already offers almost everything he would need, he honestly just need to bring his clothes, himself, and a weapon if he needed it. However, Jack had a weapon, the lantern that Uncle Enrique led him to.
"Nooooo, my baby is going away to one of the most successful Guardian schools in the world and he might die!" Aunt Matilda was crying while she hugged Jack. "Are you sure you don't want to stay here?"
"Mom, he's dreamt of this since we were kids, let him go." Noemi had Jack's back as she pried her mother off of him. "In all seriousness, if you don't become one of the best guardians out there I'm using your funds to go to Dosneyland with my friends."
"Oi, you better not forget your brother!" Lucius demanded while waving his fists into the air.
"Hey, this is Jack's day, let him have it!" Uncle Enrique chuckled before placing a hand on Jack's shoulder. "In all seriousness, you better not waste your time out there, or I'm withdrawing all our support."
"It's worth noting that Jack got in there because of his talent and skills, so the expenses are quite low." Geppetto walked towards Jack and his family with Alice close behind, the latter of whom had a black backpack along with a pitch black suitcase she rolled behind her. "Besides, I'll be going to Sanctuary with everyone, so I'll keep an eye on them."
"Oh no, we'll have the old man watching over us, the horror!" Rico and his twin, Nico walked towards us. Or was it Nico and Rico? "What do you say, Nico?"
"I'd say we better make like a tree and leave." Nico suggested, and Jack noticed how Nico was dressed slightly nicer than his brother. "Say, where's Zane and Othelia?
"Othelia is probably late, as per usual, but I can't say I have a guess as to where Zane is." Aunt Matilda appeared to know Jack's friends well. "Say, Jack, how is your leg holding up? I noticed you adapted to it much faster than what the doctor thought possible."
"Yeah, the leg almost feels like it adjusts itself to make it easier for me to move, but hey, the sooner the better I guess." Jack looked down at his leg, and it still shone that dim hue of green.
"GUYS, START THE TRAIN!" Zane was running towards the group with a large backpack on his back, and he looked absolutely out of breath. "I discovered my old crush was a douche, so I released all his nudes as revenge!"
"Wait, you had his nudes?" Nico questioned, and before he could press into the matter, Zane cupped his hand over Nico's mouth. "Did you hack into his Kingstagram account again?"
"No not this time, I just asked and he sent them to me!" Zane shouted while his face was beat red. "He is nothing more than a manwhore!"
"Well we still need to wait for Othelia, I wonder why she's late this time." Alice looked around, then she noticed a blonde haired girl with a braid walking towards us with no bags what-soever. "Othelia, where were you?"
"Oh I was setting up my mech in the cargo car, just so it was ready to go to Sanctuary." Othelia informed everyone, which actually seemed like a decent excuse if you ask me. "By the way, I heard Austen's nudes were released on the internet, can you believe it? He was such a douche, always blackmailing people, and now everyone knows how small his pecker is."
"Okay, am I the only person who didn't know Austen was a total dick?!" Zane shouted, gathering the attention of everyone in the train station.
"Yeah." A random bystander pointed out.
"Apparently so." A rich citizen passed by carrying a briefcase.
"You didn't know? He kicks puppies for fun!" A random child missing a tooth walked past us.
"Okay, now I feel pretty stupid..." Zane rubbed the back of his neck.
"Relax, you let your emotions blind you, it happens to everyone." Nico reassured the hacker. "That's why I plan on becoming the mirror that reveals truth, so pure hearted people won't be deceived."
"And that's why I plan on becoming the disguise kit that tricks the wicked." Rico appeared to finish Nico's statement, and Jack wondered how long it took them to work on that timing.
"Wow, noble goal, now I feel kind of pathetic for only being able to use magic by sacrificing nails, hair, tears, and sweat to a stereotypical BBEG." Alice seemed nervous.
"Hey, at least you use magic, I have to hide inside a mech to be worth a thing." Othering crossed her arms. "Well, I do have a Glock in there just in case, but still!"
"Oh yeah? I used to have powers, but I forgot how to use them." Jack pointed out, he still wants know if he helped in the development of Jurassic Park.
"You all are getting powers?" Zane appeared to finish the little meme the group was doing without even realizing.
"All aboard!" The train conductor popped his head out of the train, and the train's engine was getting started.
"Looks like we have to go." Jack pointed out as he hugged Aunt Matilda and Uncle Enrique. "Thank you both for letting me go to Sanctuary in the end."
"Hey, as long as you promise to come back alive, it's okay." Uncle Enrique pat Jack's back and he broke the hug. Uncle Enrique held his hand out, and Jack shook his hand gratefully. "We'll be here waiting for you if you wanna come back. The high school around here could use a new history teacher."
"Thank you both, for everything."
"Hey, Jack, get your ass on this train or you're gonna be late!" Alice shouted from the train door, and Jack had no choice but to wave goodbye to his family before jumping onto the train.
The train was pretty old, using a steam engine combined with the magic crystals Jack harvested from the salamander yesterday, to move. The inside of the train looked like that of a certain film about wizards. Jack entered the booth that his friends were in, and noticed that there were seats on either side of the booth. The left side had Nico, Rico, and Zane, while the other side housed Othelia and Alice. Jack sat next to Alice because there were less people on her side. Zane took out his laptop to begin doing whatever, while Nico and Rico began challenging each other to a game of Connect Five on their phones. As this was happening, Jack turned his head to look out the window to see his family waving goodbye to him, and Jack waved to them in response. Moments later, the train began moving, signaling the departure for Sanctuary Academy. His view of them was quickly replaced by the sight of the desert landscape of tumbleweeds, dust, cacti, and the dirt that made up the landscape. The desert Jack was from looked like something straight out of a spaghetti western film. There wasn't much to describe, other than the blue skies that stretched behind the distant mountains, the sun shining life onto everything it touches. Up above, Jack saw a hawk looking for its prey as a snake slithered out from beneath a rock. The hawk saw this right away, and it swooped down to scoop the snake up. Jack then decided to shift his attention away from the window. Jack looked over Alice's shoulder to see her doodling things into a note book of hers.
"What are you drawing?"
"Oh I'm just trying to use geometry to make new magic circles." Alice informed Jack while showing her notebook. "I'm attempting to boost the power of my summons by adjusting my circles a bit, which may not seem like much to you, but it's crucial that every line is perfect."
"Dafuq does geometry have to do with magic?" Jack questioned the goth girl, who looked somewhat insulted, but then acted like she was teaching a child what colors were.
"You see, certain magic cooperates well with certain kinds of subjects." Alice explained. "As a warlock, I need geometry for my magic circles and astronomy to study the stars because demons and stars are connected. You on the other hand use biology for reanimation and historical knowledge for your ability to learn lost magic."
"What about you guys?" Jack pointed at his friends. "What do you guys need to learn for your style?"
"Rico and I are magic weapons, meaning we just turn into magical weapons." Nico informed the archeologist. "I turn into a magic mirror, and Rico turns into a disguise kit that can alter just about anything about a person's appearance, including their voice and height. So maybe he needs information?"
"I don't have any magic, instead, my family uses mechs we build ourselves." Othelia informed her friend. "You see, my family uses unique tools to forge mechs unique to us and us alone. Our mechs are also unique because as we get older, we get more ideas to improve our mechs to make them more effective. I like to believe that they're blessings from the forge god, due to them being almost magical ideas that pop out of nowhere."
"I don't use magic either, I have a talent for hacking and anything technology related and I try to use the latest technology to be of help." Zane explained as he put his headphones on. "So my abilities are pretty situational. If I'm in a city surrounded by technology, I am God and you all would be at my mercy."
"But in the woods, he's practically a baby." Alice pointed out. "I remember that time we went on an outdoors trip in 6th grade and technology wasn't allowed, so we were basically staying in cabins the entire time, and Zane had withdrawals the entire trip."
"Oh gods please don't talk about that." Zane had his hands over his face. " I was hoping at least someone would forget it because Jack got amnesia."
"Since he has amnesia, that means we have to talk about it." Alice crosses her arms in a determined manner. "During the trip, the twins wanted to do nothing but climb trees, Othelia read all the survival guides the camp counselors had available, I was trying to summon a demon in the forest, Jack was helping me, and Zane tried making a laptop out of rocks."
"Wait, that wildfire was you?!" Nico shouted in confusion, and they were lucky these booths had walls, otherwise he would be disturbing the other passengers.
"Yeah I got bored, anyways." Alice ignored the possible legal allegations of her actions to continue the story. "He tried sneaking in his phone by hiding it inside his shirt, but it was confiscated by one of the teachers. The entire time, he was scribbling a bunch of 0's and 1's into the ground. Praying to the gods above to grant him at least a Gameboi, or at least a gamer boy he can relate to."
"Hey, that last part is not true!" Zane turned red and Alice laughed a bit. "You know it's hypocritical that you make fun of me for not dating anyone when you've been pining after a grave robber!"
"Yeah but check this out." Alice suddenly intertwined her fingers with Jack's and held them up. "Boom. Hand holding, one step ahead of you already."
"You clever witch." Zane put his headphones on his head and crossed his arms in a pouting manner. "Whatever, I'm going to listen to hundreds of versions of Country Roads."
"Have fun." Alice went back to drawing in her sketchbook, and Jack noticed how her pen had a skeletal design. Jack shifted his attention back outside the window.
Jack looked out at the desert scenery and noticed how the train began entering an average sized town, and in the distant hills, he noticed how grass became more and more common. Though his view of the hills were quickly cut off by the large number of buildings, signaling that the train was arriving at the train's next stop. Unfortunately, Sanctuary is in the capital city of the Heliosian Empire, Oneiro, which was a completely different country compared to Achisi, where Jack currently was. That means it would be hours before they reach Sanctuary. As they rode the train, it came to a stop, allowing passengers on and off of the train. Jack was focused out the window when he noticed a large group of goblins parading around outside some animation studio, holding signs and appearing to be protesting something. Jack couldn't see what the signs said, but he could tell the goblins were pissed.
"Hey Alice, any idea as to what's going on over there?"
"What?" Alice looked up from her notebook to look out the window, as did the others. "They're protesting at an anime studio? That's weird, anime is pretty well renowned nowadays."
"Oh I think I know why they're protesting." Rico held his hand up. "That animation studio released an anime called G*blin Sl*yer, and given how the anime depicts all goblins as...well the worst things ever, so goblins hate the anime with everything they've got. I mean, they're just like us, starting families, working hard at their jobs, all that jazz. So it's kind of unfair to them."
"I would pay actual money to hear why these people thought releasing G*blin Sl*yer would be a good idea, I mean, we just got over the ogre and orc ordeal a while back." Othelia pointed out, and now Jack was guessing the same thing happened with orcs a little while back.
"I mean, if they're going to make something fucked up, at least make it equal." Rico pointed out. "Like R*do of a H**ler."
"Gods, everyone in that anime is at least some degree of fucked up." Alice sighed, something tells Jack she hates that anime. "I mean, the main character is just like the antagonists, yet the author puts in way too much effort to make him look like the good guy by using 'revenge' as a justification. Like people who think revenge NTR is justified."
"It is though." Rico suddenly got slapped in the back of the head by Nico. "Ouch!"
"Please, if you become the very thing you swore to destroy, then you're just another villain, like D*rth V*ader." Alice pointed out. "Though if those kinds of 'heroes' provide anything, they make mildly decent villains."
"Nah, they're edgelords, a good villain is morally ambiguous or someone who just feels real." Othelia appeared to know a lot about writing. "If they're an edgelord, then they get bonked into edgy jail. Like Alice."
"Hey, I'm goth, not edgy, learn the difference." Alice corrected, and the rest of the group laughed.
Jack's heart felt slightly heavy as he laughed, most likely saddened by the fact that he's lost every memory he has ever made with his friends before the incident, and all he has to remind himself that those moments ever happened are images, images of moments he'll never truly remember. Alice appears to have noticed his sudden depression, and in response, she wrapped one hand around Jack's shoulders and gently hugged him.
"Hey, don't worry." Alice spoke quietly while the others were distracted. "Your memories may never come back, but we'll never leave you behind. We'll always be right by your side."
Jack felt reassured when she said this, and he began drifting off to sleep, Jack leaned his head against the glass of the window before closing his eyes. Jack felt Alice lean her head on his shoulder while clinging to her notebook. The train began moving once again, and Jack could hear the engine's soft hum even from his spot on the train. The train station they stopped at began fading from his view as the train began moving to its next stop, and soon, to Oneiro, to Sanctuary.
Meanwhile...
Geppetto was sitting in the booth across from Alice's group, and smiled to himself as he read a book, or at least that's how it appeared. Geppetto was actually controlling a puppet of hims using his magic. The puppet was at Sanctuary, and he was using it to communicate with an old ally of his, Herakles, who is the headmaster of Sanctuary. He was also the head of the guard of the high king, so he wasn't in the best of moods ever since the high king disappeared. In the corner of his eye, Geppetto thought he saw a familiar scene instead of his granddaughter and her friends. What Geppetto saw were himself, Herakles, Maria, Eddy, Arthur, Vedmak, Cheng, Joan, and Lucy when they were back in their youth, going to Sanctuary for the first time. Geppetto looked at the scene with his eyes, but instead he saw Alice's group.
"I guess this old mind is playing tricks on me again." Geppetto rubbed his eyes. "It's been many years since all five of us went to Sanctuary together, so many in fact I've lost count."
All of them went their separate ways some time after going to Sanctuary together, like Herakles became the Headmaster and Arthur became the High King right after graduation. Geppetto decided to just become a full time Guardian and start a family when he graduated. Little did he know that only tragedy would follow his family after that. Yet it was when he saw his granddaughter, happily spending time with those close to her, that Geppetto found his tragedy worth it.
"I pray tragedy doesn't follow you like it has for me." Geppetto was speaking ominously for the sheer dramatic effect. Geppetto was not sure if he's a villain or not, but this isn't his story. Geppetto suddenly got a phone call, and he pulled out his phone to see it was Herakles. "Hello?"
"Geppetto, stop making puppets who look like you appear in my office and talk on your behalf!" Herakles sounded pissed, most likely because of the fact that his puppets always scared him.
"Suck my puppet master dick Herakles, I do what I want."