Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Mitaille ❯ Part I ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: This is an original fiction, written by me, and all characters/settings/ideas/etc. belong to me. Thanks for reading.

 

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Mitaille

 

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Part I

 

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Her name meant “under the stars.” I come from the family “flames of the night.” With so much darkness in our names, I should have known this would be our fate.

 

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The dark knight rode under the canopy of the holy forest just west of Tilmy, on his way to the largest city in Di'arca itself. His horse, Fractis, was getting weary from the long journey they'd been on this evening, and Kei hated to push his trusted companion so much but making it to Tilmy in a timely manner was of the utmost importance. Speaking with Talihm, the high priest in the city could not wait, even half a day. He had to know what to do with Mitaille, and the priest was one known for good advice on such matters.

 

As Kei pressed forward through the rainy night, his thoughts drifted to Mitaille once more, and the moment he knew they would be involved in one another's lives for eternity.

 

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In the blinding sun just outside the temple, Kei saw her sitting on the steps in the sunlight. He thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen with the way life seemed to spring forth from everything she touched. The sun highlighted that beauty, and even sitting on the steps small plants started to sprout in the stone cracks underneath her touch. He always knew there was something magical about her; he didn't need anyone to tell him that.

 

“My son,” Kei's mother knelt down in front of him and looked idly to Mitaille outside on the steps before returning her gaze to him. “Mitaille is a special girl.” She smiled at him and paused for a moment before she continued. “She will need your protection. You'll have to be her knight.”

 

“Of course,” Kei replied. “I would do anything for her mother. I love her.” His eyes showed how earnest he was. He did love her, as he loved his mother and father.

 

Kei's mother smiled and pulled her six-year-old son into a hug. “I'll protect her always,” Kei whispered into his mother's shoulder.

 

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As Kei Noctucaminus rode into the eastern gate of Tilmy he could see smoke rising from the temple district on the western side of the city. He sighed into his helmet and pressed onward to the stables just before him. Kei jumped down from his horse and led the animal into the open gate of the stables.

 

“May I help you sir?” a young man approached and gave a slight bow to Kei.

 

“My horse is weary and needs to rest for a day. Make sure he has plenty of food and water,” Kei replied as he petted Fractis on the nose before letting him go.

 

“Y-yes sir,” the young man stuttered and ran back inside the house.

 

Kei watched in confusion as the man ran away. Then he turned and saw several citizens staring at him warily as they walked past the stables. Kei sighed; this was always how it was. He was a dark knight, and a practitioner of arcane magic, two things that many people in Di'arca did not understand and thus feared as evil and immoral.

 

Kei gave one last pat to Fractis and headed off toward the temple district. He was glad he didn't lift his visor before he came into the city. Let the people see him as a monster if they wished, at least now they would not have his face to place with a stereotype.

 

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It was as he had feared—the temple had been attacked by Mitaille. Kei looked around at the damage done not only to the sanctum but to the priests and priestesses residing there. How could you do this, Mitaille? How could you hurt people who have never done you wrong?

 

“I thought I heard you were in town.” Kei turned to his right to see an older man staring at him rather plainly. “You're late; she already had her way with us.”

 

“High priest Talihm,” Kei stepped toward his elder. “I am deeply sorry about all of this. Mitaille, she,” Kei paused as he searched for the words. “She isn't herself anymore.”

 

“She never was,” Talihm responded with slight animosity. “Isn't it your duty to protect her? Why weren't you with her?”

 

Talihm's words struck Kei in his greatest wound to date—his failure to protect and guide Mitaille. “She managed to get away from me,” Kei said lowly. He was still glad he had his visor down; he'd rather not let the priest see how his eyes watered with tears. “A mistake that will not happen again.”

 

“I should hope not,” Talihm continued, “because of the price the rest of us must pay.” Talihm sighed deeply before he spoke once more. “She was last seen heading to the east, in the direction of Barbatos. I wish you well in your endeavor,” Talihm turned and walked back toward the temple. After a few steps, he stopped and looked to Kei once more. “A knight such as yourself needs all the luck he can get when he is trying to capture an errant goddess.”

 

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One night later, as Kei rode out of Tilmy on the road heading east to the coastal city of Barbatos, he was troubled deeply by the priest's words. He was not only failing Mitaille, he was failing every resident of Di'arca. He was the one charged with this duty, and he must not be the one to fail. Kei had failed thus far, but he was determined to set things right, no matter what it meant.

 

The dark knight looked up at the stars in the cloudless sky above. Always under the cover of darkness, you and I, Mitaille. Maybe we two darklings are not meant to live in the light of Di'arca… As Fractis soldiered forward, Kei's thoughts drifted once more to the past.

 

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Kei was covered in dirt and sweat, and he wasn't done yet. He was focusing as hard as he could with both mind and body to get this spell correct. Magic wasn't something that came easily in Di'arca. Only a small portion of the population, maybe ten percent or so would ever be able to use magic in their lifetimes. And of that group, about half of those were born with a natural affinity to magic and would be able to train and learn to cast higher and more powerful spells. Kei had the affinity, he just needed the training.

 

A black mist started to form between Kei's open palms, and a smile crept into his features. He was finally casting the spell to conceal oneself. As the mist grew stronger, it began to swirl around Kei until he disappeared from human sight entirely. The effect only lasted for about sixty seconds when Kei slowly reappeared from nothing. The few villagers who were watching eyed Kei warily; they had never approved of his choice to become a dark knight and thus a practitioner of the arcane arts.

 

“That was wonderful, Kei!” Mitaille ran up to her knight and pulled him into a hug. She smiled at him, and he was mesmerized by her bright green eyes, as usual. They seemed to glow to him, though when he asked others about it they never agreed. “I can't believe how much you've learned.”

 

“I have to know everything,” Kei laughed slightly. “I have to be able to protect you from anyone.”

 

Mitaille smiled sweetly at him. She never had a problem with Kei's decision to follow the path of the dark knight. Others claimed that it wasn't traditional, that Kei should be a templar knight, maybe a dragon knight, but never a dark knight. It wasn't as if a dark knight was an evil person, it was just a way to describe the training and magic that sect of knights used. Kei was never one to follow tradition for the sake of tradition, and Mitaille supported him no matter what. As long as he had her approval, he didn't need anything. Kei may have only been seventeen at the time, but he knew then that he loved her and he would do anything for her, outside of simply being charged with her protection.

 

But Mitaille was a daughter of the goddess, one of her incarnations, and would never really need him. He just hoped he could keep up the illusion that he had to be around her so he would never be without her near. He would protect her, always, no matter what the cost was to himself.

 

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