The year 723 AD
Scorpio Sante
Scorpio held her head down as she walked nervously in the crowded street. She loved the sweet aroma of the freshly baked bread, and the sounds of playing children and the church bells signalling the ninth hour of the morning. She had an hour to get to the magical guard's training ground before practice, like every morning. Scorpio smiled to herself. That was the one place she could let her emotions loose without being told that 'she was not acting like a lady of her class'. In some way, she envied her fellow trainees, Cancer Olsson and Pisces Fontana, for having the freedom she could never have. That was part of the reason why she wanted to join Latex Elite Squad.
Scorpio heard a murmur from behind her. "A noble..." A middle aged man said, taking a couple of steps back. The other villagers heard him and made a way for her to get through. She gritted her teeth and threw her hood up to cover her face. She hated being treated differently.
Quickening her pace, she jogged out of the crowd and up the paved road towards the training ground. It was a large, open air building with a dusty ground. The walls were high enough so that the public couldn't see exactly what the trainees were doing, in case of spies that were not uncommon. So far that year, they had caught two spies from Ignis, four from Telluris and one from Aer.
"Scorpio!" A voice called from behind her. A girl with strawberry blonde hair in a long ponytail ran up to her, waving. Her simple dress was stained and her hands were dirty. Pisces, the only peasant other than Cancer who would address her, a noble, so informally.
"Pisces." She greeted her friend with a smile.
"Where's Cancer?" Pisces asked, looking around. "He's usually the first one here."
Scorpio shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe he is already inside."
Scorpio felt Pisces grab her arm and drag her towards the entrance. The girl had too much energy, she thought. They pushed open the heavy wooden door and walked in, keeping an eye out for their white-haired friend. Amid a blob of a shining solid mass, they saw their fellow comrade sparring against straw dummies. Scorpio sighed. They were way past that level, but Cancer always made sure to train as many hours as possible, even though it was not improving his power skill in the slightest.
"Cancer!" Pisces shouted from next to her, making her wince. The boy turned and looked at them. His forehead was beaded with frozen sweat.
"Hi." He said as he took a drink from his flask.
"You need to stop working so hard." Pisces scolded him as if she was a mother.
Cancer's expression remained neutral, "I have to push myself if we want to win this war." He said simply.
He had a point, Scorpio thought. The war had started centuries ago, yet there seemed to be no end. "Yeah." Scorpio replied with a smirk, "We're going to win this!"
Aquarius Amato
"Who do you think the new recruit is going to be?" Aquarius asked her brother as they made their way to the training base. According to their squad captain, their former comrade had been gravely wounded during their latest mission, so they were one team member down. It had taken them months to find someone willing to replace them.
"As long as it's not a noble, I don't care." Libra replied. Technically, they didn't have to speak out loud, Aquarius could just use her telepathy to speak to him privately. But on the deserted road, there was no point in wasting her energy.
"Yep." She agreed. "I can't stand those good for nothing spoilt brats."
Libra said nothing and they continued down the road in a comfortable silence. Coming closer to the base, Aquarius noticed the squad captain talking to a short, skinny looking boy with a mop of dirty blonde hair. He was wearing a simple white tunic, but the rims and belt were threaded with gold. She and Libra exchanged dark looks.
Captain Fabbri nodded a greeting as they approached. "Here they are...meet Aquarius and Libra Amato." He said in a stoic voice.
The boy turned towards them. He was half a head smaller than them both, but he didn't seem intimidated. "Hello! I'm Gemini from the house of Grey! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
He held out his hand expectantly, beaming at Aquarius with wide eyes. She took it and replied, "Hi. I'm Aquarius Ama-" She was cut short by a painful shock running up her arm. She yelped and let go quickly.
"Gotcha!" Gemini laughed.
Libra gave Aquarius a quizzical look, who was shaking her arm to see if it was damaged. "What was that for?!" She yelled at him.
Gemini looked up at her innocently, "What was what for?"
Frustration was bubbling in her stomach. She looked at Captain Fabbri. "He's too young." She said bluntly. "The age of application is 18."
Captain Fabbri looked no more excited than Aquarius, as if this kid was the last person he would have recruited. He must have been desperate. "He is 18." He replied, not looking her in the eye, which was smart of him, as Aquarius would easily have been able to command him to fire the new recruit.
Libra snorted from next to her, "He looks 15!" He laughed. "There should be a height limit too!"
Gemini raised his eyebrows as if he didn't get the joke. "What?" He asked.
Great, Aquarius thought miserably. They had just been blessed with a dim-witted noble who looked about as intimidating as a twig. Hopefully he was a better fighter than he looked.
Aries Glyn
Aries quickly wiped the sweat off her brow as she parried another attack from her comrade. Even with all the training she had, Prince Leo Asquith was no easy opponent. She gripped the hilt of her sword tighter in her hand and dodged a quick strike from Leo. She ached to unleash her powerful fire magic, but this exercise targeted their close combat ability.
She blocked a swing from Leo as she waited for an opening. Her keen eyes followed his movements perfectly, but he was so skilled he hardly had any weaknesses. Another quick slice. Aries almost missed the slight opening as he straightened his body. With the flat of her blade, she pushed him over in a short but powerful movement. He stumbled and fell on his side. She pointed the tip of her sword to his throat with a grin.
"Good one!" Leo said cheerfully, unfazed by the fact he had just lost.
"Thank you." Aries laughed, offering him a hand as she lowered her sword. He took it and pulled himself up.
From the sidelines, Aries' best friend, Sagittarius Millar, started clapping enthusiastically. "Whoo!" She cheered, "That was the quickest one yet!"
"Your turn!" Aries called out to her. "Fight me with all you've got!"
Sagittarius shook her head, "Nah, I'm good for today." Normally, Aries would have been insulted if a simple peasant had refused something like that, but she regarded Sagittarius as an equal.
"Aww shame." Aries pouted. She glanced at Leo, who was shining with sweat and his red hair clung to his forehead. "Want to spar again?" She asked eagerly.
"No, sorry." He said while making his way to Sagittarius, "I'm exhausted. You got me good."
Aries followed Leo and sat on the grass curb next to her fellow comrades. She plucked a blade of grass and tied it in knots. An annoying habit she couldn't seem to get rid of.
"When do you think we'll get a mission?" Aries finally asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Soon, I should think." Leo replied, brushing the hair out of his eyes. "I overheard my father talking about infultrating the Latex Kingdom. Seeing as we are now the most skilled warriors in Ignis..." His voice trailed off.
"Yes, it seems pretty likely." Sagittarius agreed.
Aries couldn't hide her excitement. "This is going to be so fun!" She exclaimed, "I can't wait to fight everyone!"
Sagittarius giggled, "Typical Aries." She said, "But if it's an infultration mission, then we won't be doing too much fighting. We need to be as inconspicous as possible."
Aries' face fell. "Then what's the point in training?" She questioned.
"If plans go awry, then we will need to fight." Leo replied simply.
"I hope things go wrong then!"
"No!" Sagittarius and Leo shouted together.
Capricorn Rusu
Capricorn sprinted up the deserted street towards Terruris' Elite headquarters. He had completely lost track of time while helping out on the farm that he hadn't noticed he had five minutes to get there. If he had been a noble, being late would be no problem, but as a peasant, Capricorn could face a harsh punishment. He picked up speed as the headquartes came into view. His muscles screamed in protest but he ignored them.
Ignoring the main entrance, which was most probably locked, he made his way to a smaller side entrance. He twisted the doorknob and walked in, breathing heavily. He flattened out his baggy clothes and walked towards his Captain's office, which was a few doors from the entrance. He gulped before knocking.
"Enter." Captain Willems's gruff voice called out to him.
Capricorn shakily opened the door and slipped inside. His fellow comrades, Taurus Calvert and Virgo Rocha were already there, looking at him in a both amused and expectant way.
"Sorry I am late, sir." Capricorn apologised, not looking his Captain in the eye.
"No matter." He replied, which surprised Capricorn. He had never been let off that easily. "Now that you are here I can start. You have been ordered by her Magesty to infultrate the Latex Kingdom."
Capricorn's heart skipped a beat. A mission? "When are we going?" He asked impatiently.
"Let me finish." Captain Willems growled through gritted teeth. "You are to find out their current defensive plans, and report back immediately. Do not engage in combat. Spies in the Ignis Kingom have heard rumours that they will be doing the same, so keep your eyes peeled."
"Does that mean we will be attacking soon?" Virgo questioned.
Captain Willems' eye twitched. "I don't know." He replied, a hint of annoyance in his tone. "Just carry out this mission swiftly and effectively and we will work from there." He waved his hand. "You are dissmissed"
"Our first mission!" Virgo said excitedly. His dark eyes gleemed with anticipation.
"I can't wait." Capricorn agreed.
"I don't know." Taurus muttered. She tugged at her hair in anxiety. "I don't think I'm powerful enough yet... We could die."
Capricorn stared at her in disbelief, "Are you serious? We are literally the most powerful magicians in this squad. Believe in yourself!" He punched her lightly in the arm. If he had done that to any other noble, the punishment would have been servere.
"Yeah, lighten up, girl." Virgo said with a grin.
Taurus nodded but said nothing. Her low self esteem was a big problem. It haulted her magic to a certain level, which was already crazy powerful but she could achieve so much more. However, with Capricorn's nature magic combined with Virgo's elemental Earth powers, their long ranged attacks were powerful, and along with torturous close combat training they had to endure for many years, they were pretty experienced.
"We make a great team." Capricorn decided.