Brighter Than Diamonds

## Series of Unexpected Circumstances

His morning was the same as every other morning, following the same routine without fail since he was still growing up at his father's big house nearly a decade after. He would start by making his bed, washing his face, and straightening his hair out in front of a mirror before looking for anything out of place in his room from the night before. It wasn’t until after this that he could really start his day, a ritual born more so out of paranoia than from any real necessity. He was Axle Strider, an independent Mage turned Guild Mage in recent months, becoming a proud member of Fox Tail, and at the rank of A. It was still surreal to believe; almost to catch himself from darling any longer, Axle whipped back to his room, everything in its exact spot where he left them before going off to sleep, including a set of keys looped around a metal ring across his night stand directly beside his bed.

“Exactly where I thought I put you,” Axle mumbled, reaching out to grasp at the keys jingling at the sudden movement.

Four keys in total, three in sterling silver, with a singular key standing out from among the rest. It was the signature tool that any self-respecting Celestial Spirit Mages would hold on to dear life to protect, a saying that was more grounded in literal fashion from Axle’s irrational need to investigate his belongings every morning, a habit that he developed because of this choice of magic to begin with. The rest of the morning went on without incident.

Axle had let the windows swing open to help ventilate his house, airing out all the dust and stale air that was still inside before starting his breakfast. His home consisted of a small house with a large roof pointed out in such an exaggerated manner, almost reminiscent to a wizards hat, located on the outskirts of Fiore near a cliffside village. With Axle spending most of his time on the road in-between jobs on behalf of the guild, it was a wonder he ever had any time to spend in his newfound home he had recently built to facilitate his new lifestyle so close to work. Dust and cobwebs decorating the already dilapidated space inside even further.

Regardless, never in a thousand years had he thought he would ever be a proud home-owner that didn’t consist of the nearest tree or inn. The irony wasn’t lost on him. Growing up in a monastery, he had gotten used to living with less than the clothes on his back for the longest time, so the roof under his head and warm bed were more of a luxury than an actual comfort in that regard, even if the house was still in the middle of construction.

“Hmm, it's about that time again huh,” Axle mused, glancing at his wallet, nearly without a single Jewel to call his own, he could almost hear the butterflies flying off with the last bit of change to show for his last couple of jobs.

*Money, there’s just never enough*. He let out a half exasperated sigh at the state of finances. As far as food and water, Axle could simply forage from the local forest so that wasn’t an immediate concern. For things such as clothes, books, and even repairs to his house were some of the things he had to take into consideration. Proper, civilized living, he thought, was more cumbersome than he thought it was worth doing, but was a necessity if he was going to be a working member of society.

Afterall, it wasn’t as though he could just appear in front of a client in woredown clothes. And although he was more physically oriented as a Mage, that didn’t necessarily mean he could disregard learning something new in a potential book; even as a Celestial Spirit Mage, he was still lacking in certain spells that his brothers and sisters had no undoubtedly already learned and mastered by the time they were his age, and the fact that he never had that much of a formal education didn’t make it any less important to keep up with his studies.

The way he saw it, Axle had been domesticated before he’d even realized the collar around his neck.

“Life as a functioning adult kind of sucks huh?”

With breakfast finished and the house in a more presentable state, there was nothing stopping him from stopping by the guild for another job to help replenish his funds for the next week.

The entire atmosphere in Fiore was certainly charming, the roads were perfectly cobbled together, with several fields of flowers adjacent to the large fields that seemed to stretch out endlessly from beyond his sight. The only figure he could make out from the sheer distance was the large walls and shadow of a massive castle that loomed over the hills and upcoming city. It belonged to its capital of Crocus, aptly named the “Flower Blooming Capital”, a more than appropriate description to the grandiose showing on display. Collecting himself, Axle was almost disappointed that his ultimate destination was somewhere off the beaten path, so he made the effort to double his pace without any further distractions.

With the fields of grass and flowers swept away by hard stone and earthly buildings made from wood, Axle had arrived in a nearby town within arms reach of his goal. Before him sat one building that stood out from the rest in its majesty, with the all too familiar logo emblazoned in front for all to acknowledge: the Fox Tail Guild.

“Welcome back!” Spoke an enthusiastic voice from above the loud commotion of voices shaking the air, a young girl stood at the far end of the reception area, welcoming him back with warm open arms as soon as he swung the doors open. The place hadn’t changed since he left. Going on two back-to-back jobs had led all over Ishgar for the past month, he was overdue to check in with the guild, he’d missed the friendly atmosphere that was still all too new to him.

As things stood, Axle was still a relative rookie in comparison to the rest of its members, regardless off personal rank, he paled in comparison to their experience in terms of being an official guild Mage, so he wasn’t too used to working with others since the days he spent as an independent Mage and bounty hunter. Thinking about it now, it felt like a lifetime ago.

“Axle, when’d you get back? Heard you got some serious payout from your last job. How about treating us to the next round yea. We want all the juicy bits.” From one of the nearby tables, he was greeted by some older guild members, all crowding around the bar knocking back several pints so early in the morning, that he could smell them all the way from the job board.

“Might as well keep my pace going if I’m going to keep your glasses filled guys,” he countered, a smile curling up from his face, giving a gentle nod to the barkeep, placing down a few Jewels on the table to cover the next round, but gently refusing to partake in the merrymaking. With the drinks paid for, it only reinforced his need for another job. His last job, an S-Class request, had kept his pockets full for a while, going so far as to finance building his house and all the amenities he needed, along with the furniture. After refilling his pantry, and purchasing several other expensive books that added to the tally of expenses, what would have lasted him several months, disappeared in a matter of weeks.

The house wasn’t done with the renovations, the roof was still in shambles, some of the walls weren’t as sturdy as he would have hoped, and he was down to his last Jewel. “Ugh, none of these pay out well, dammit.” To make matters worse, Winter was fast approaching, his first hint coming from the soft nip of cold air brush past his nose on his way here. If the house wasn’t done by next month, he'd have to be relegated to sleeping under a mountain of snow until Spring arrived, and throwing months of construction back, not to mention the damage the snow would cause to the interior, set him back even further. And he wasn’t about to go around begging for shelter, much less cash. His pride wouldn’t allow him to throw his problems onto someone else's lap.

And it wasn’t like he could take another S-Class job even if he was crazy enough to try, his rank wouldn’t allow him, since it was against guild protocol, and in that once instance he did participate, he was accompanied by a former Guildmaster and another high-class Mage, both of which he was lacking at his current predicament.

As it stood, things were winding down this time of year. With everybody getting ready for Winter, the number of jobs currently available were slim pickings, with some paying as little as 20,000 . In comparison, the debt he owes in renting equipment alongside purchasing the land and construction materials, not to mention borrowing a loan or two, set him back around 2,600,000 , and that wasn’t even considering the interest rate. He felt like crying.

Taking one of the flyers off the board, it was the simple job of teaching magic to kids, no doubt something that would take longer than he felt comfortable doing being on such a tight deadline that would be better spent working higher quality jobs at a much faster pace. But at his current state of affairs, it was as good as it was going to get. Resigning himself to his fate, he was just about to reach for the exit before being stopped in his tracks by the receptionist.

“I’m sorry for the interruption, but there's a gentleman waiting for you in reception, who said he knew from the ‘old days’, and that it was urgent.”

“Old days?” Puzzled, Axle took a moment to rationalize what that could mean. Being a loner for most of his professional life, he wasn’t acquainted with too many people that knew him on a personal level, and he doubted it was a family visit either, that was another set of affairs far too outlandish to even consider given their tumultuous relationship after all these years.

“Tell him I’ll be right there.” Shuffling past some of the other members of Fox Tail, Axle gave momentary glances and small nods as he passed them by.

He was a tall man, old but still supple-enough with muscle that clashed with his elderly posture. His appearance put him out of place with the Mage-like atmosphere that the guild fostered and its inhabitants with how very formal he dressed; a long trench coat and hat that seemed to resemble his white beard in the sense that both were old and tattered with age. If one thought what a business man ought to look like, he was the textbook definition of late retirement. Furrowing his brow, the wrinkles on his face scrunched up even further, aging him an additional 10 years as soon as he caught sight of Axle from the corner of his eye.

“Now it makes sense. This is what she meant by ‘old days’, Benedict.”

“Haha, you could at least pretend to be happy, after all, who kept you fed when you were still taking baby steps. Couldn’t even tell right from left before I was through with you.” Benedict Mayfeld, contrary to his outward appearance, was an info broker doubling as an independent contractor. To mages with less than reputable reputations or bounty hunters, he provided a service that made him *the best friend you ever had* as Benedict would emphasize. But that was rarely ever the case. To put it plainly, Benedict was scum. As a business man in his unique position, he wasn’t above taking advantage of the privileges he provided, especially to newbies and rookies. He always took a commission for introducing said Mage to a client, in addition to receiving a certain percentage from the job's completion that bordered on extortion.

He was a crook that he had the unfortunate displeasure of running into when he was starting off as an Independent Mage, but the kind of crook Axle could trust in the fact that he couldn’t trust him at all. It made him predictable. As far as their relationship went, it was more onesided than Axle wanted it to be, but over time, as he built a name for himself and developed some skill, the gap closed well enough to elevate him from trash to at least competent crook when it came to negotiating price. Afterall, it was Benedict who introduced him to the Coeurl job in the first place.

“Look at you, going all respectable now. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought you were avoiding me. What, your old pal Ben can’t even get a proper hello after all this time?”

“How’s that old saying go, ‘be careful about the company you keep’? If I’m respectable, you're still just as sleazy. It's only cause’ you pawned jobs on me back then that we're even talking right now. I don’t owe you any more than that, especially when you ripped me off every chance you got.”

“If you got ripped off, it was only because you made it so damn easy, no one to blame but yourself,” Benedict chimed in, his tone stern but not confrontational, as if he were relaying a simple difference in opinion rather than outright acknowledging it as fact.

Axle could only stare in annoyance as he let out a very exaggerated sigh, shrugging his shoulders, his heart pounding at the sudden rise of anger when the conversation started to go nowhere pleasant. The last thing he needed was to get swept up in some side-hustle or job he wasn't going to see any substantial returns if Benedict was involved, it was both, for a better word, a waste of money and time.

“If all you came down here was to cheat me out of my Jewels, sorry to disappoint, you should've spent your money somewhere else, cause’ you're not gonna see any here.” And just like that, Axle darted for the exit with quickend steps, his mood spoiled, hand clasped on the flyer he ripped off the board earlier.

“Now hold your horses I’m not done, I didn’t come this far to some backwater Guild if I didn’t think it was worth my time, and more importantly, risk you getting all pissy about it.” Snatching the posting from his hands, Benedict inspected the title and payout, and could only laugh at Axle’s expense, nearly keeling over in his seat, drawing the eyes of various bystanders.

“I never figured you for a teacher. I doubt you'll finish that pretty little house on the prairie on a teacher’s salary before ass-deep in snow.”

“What?!” Axle’s irritation had suddenly vanished and was replaced by a deep seated sense of confusion that quickly escalated to open hostility, stretching his hands out to grab the old man by the collar of his shirt, drawing him in close, face-to-face. “How?!”

“Let me take you out for a drink, for old times sake.”

The bar reeked of cheap cigarettes and even cheaper booz, he wouldn’t even be surprised if what they sold was just watered down to save on costs. These doubts were only expounded even further as soon as they reached their table. Sitting at the far end of the bar, their booth was a cobbled together monstrosity of ripped up leather and nails. The table, as soon as Axle rested his hands on it, would shake and wobble from side-to-side, as if one of the legs was shorter than the others, not to mention it was sticky from all manner of leftover drinks and food that undoubtedly belonged to the previous customer.

“You may not know this, but that business with Coeurl wasn’t just any old job. I had that little job on the backburner for months, and everybody was either too chicken shit to take it or stupid enough to die trying. You did me a real favor doing what you did too, it's why I’m sitting here real pretty.” He paused, letting the fact sit in as he flourished a ring on his hand, and several spectacular pieces of jewelry on his person. Axle didn’t respond, but let him continue.

“That’s when a thought occurred to me, ‘who do i know can handle a job like this?’ and the answer was obvious. Ask the guy who comes waltzing back with a big slice of the pie. If you’re gonna make some waves, it's only fair if I point you in the right direction.” In anticipation of their meeting, Benedict had done his research ahead of time. He was aware of the debt he had accumulated with the bank, the sorry state of his personal project, and lack of funds he needed to finish before next month. Looking for just the right pressure points to maneuver Axle into this sit down. He made it his job to be a step ahead of everyone before strong-arming them for all their worth. For as much as a scoundrel he appeared to be on the surface, he wasn’t without merit when it came to knowing everyone else's business.

Handing him a letter, Axle examined it. The wax seal and noticeable quality of the paper put it leagues above anything that could be found domestically. It was the same kind he was familiar with when he was still living at home at his father’s estate, emblazoned with the same quality symbol: a royal seal.

“Where did you get this? Who’s the client? What on earth are they asking you to do?!” These were just some of the questions he had buzzing around his head, unsure how to proceed. “How dirty is it?” In the past, Axle was used to working on jobs that put him on the more ambiguous side of the law, even going so far as to coming dangerously close to what some would consider Dark Mage territory.. As a Legal Mage, he wasn’t about to risk his newfound status by breaking the law and bringing the Magic Council on his and Fox Tail’s head.

“Relax your pretty head, it's all perfectly legal, so you don’t have to dirty your pretty little fingers. All you have to do is take back some merchandise they found stolen from some old building out North. It didn’t belong to anybody to begin with, so it's a free game.”

“Nothings ever that simple, if it was, you would've asked any other chump to do it for you, so what's the catch?”

“Couldn’t pull the wool over your eyes huh? Alright. At its current rate, an infantry of soldiers from some small kingdom dispatched a letter requesting a contingency of elite knights to safeguard its safe transport. That’s what this letter is. Now we managed to snag a couple of them before reaching their destination, so they shouldn't be as armed. The package, as far as we know, hasn’t been identified yet, so it's your job to ID it and take it. I already have a buyer interested in it. They're a three day ride from here. If you leave tonight, you'll intercept them just outside the kingdom’s border.”

“Right, right. Snag the prize and get out before this becomes an issue, whatever. The real heart of the matter is the pay.”

“We've done this song and dance so long I'm sure you remember this number from back in the day. After, let's say, my commission, this would be your share of the reward. After all, I have to meet the buyer, sell it, and take time out of my busy schedule to count it.” Taking a pencil and piece of parchment, Benedict wrote some figures and slid it across the table.

Glancing at the sheet, the price he wrote down listed 700,000 . Standing up abruptly, Axle nearly flipped the table over at the insulting price, way too short of the projections he needed. “You're joking?! I’m running and jumping all over the goddamn place, AND I’m fighting. If I’m getting out of bed, I'm going to need at least four times the amount, extra for workplace injuries of course. 4,000,000  should do it.”

“1,090,000 , you're crazy if you're going to get a Jewel more for the hassle.” Benedict spat out.

“3,600,000 , and I AM crazy for entertaining you at that price, consider that 400,000  change for your troubles.”

“1,700,000 , I didn’t have to bring you in runt, anybody else would have taken it, you were just the first one that came to mind.”

“3,000,000 , and fuck you. If that were true, you wouldn’t be here bargaining the price down if you could get anybody else to work at a discount.”

“2,000,000 , that's my final offer. There’s a limit to my patience boy, you’d be wise to shut UP and take the money.” Benedict made no effort to hide the venom behind his words, his eyes burning holes into Axle’s head from the sheer intensity.

*There it is, almost there, just one final push*. “2,500,000 , and don’t think you're the only friend I have, I’m sure the competition is more than happy to curb stomp you out of the deal,” Axle countered, grabbing onto the letter. “And so there's no hard feelings, to cover your commission, I’ll give ya’ a freebie in the future, on the house.” Axle whipped back, borrowing the pencil to write his initials on a napkin with the words “IOU” on it. Coercion and threats wasn’t something he enjoyed, if he wanted something, he’d rather be straight up about it and just beat it from someone head-first. But against someone as difficult as Benedict, Axle had to go the extra mile, as underhanded as it may be.

“Damn you! Piece of...argh...these terms ar...acceptable.”

Taking the IOU, Benedict pulled out a map and spread it out on the table, highlighting an already planned route for Axle to follow, cutting across a forest in the remote part of the region. A pit in his stomach was starting to grow, threatening to eat him from the inside if he didn’t pay attention. This was a feeling he was all too familiar with: instinct. It was telling him to put his guard up, that there was more at play than he was capable of seeing. As if this sense of impending doom had a voice, he could almost hear it at the back of his mind gnaw at him for attention.

*Where did this information come from?*
*Are you sure he's telling you the truth?*
*You should wait. Don’t go.*
*Don't make the first move.*
*Wait for them to come to you.*

Paranoia was rearing its ugly head again, only it was his father’s voice this time. As far as he could remember, their father had always taught them to prioritize their own safety, to not move recklessly or unnecessarily without having all the facts, it was how wizards from the Strider Family conducted themselves. At this point, Axle couldn’t ask Benedict for any more details, he was on thin ice as it is, and with that bridge burned, he was going to have to go with the route on the map and hope for the best, gut feeling be damned.

## A Knight in a Place Like This?

“God, it's freezing. Here. Out in the middle of nowhere…Tsk, the things I do…” Walking further North per Benedict’s instructions, Axle could feel the temperature get noticeably lower, wearing a fur coat and gloves to keep warm, his nose bright red and runny, trying his best to clear his sinuses while marching to the rendezvous. It had been at least two days since he left, so he was a day early. He had initially considered taking a horse or carriage, but reneged on that decision almost immediately, seeing as how he could probably get there faster if he ran the whole way, only to stop for short breaks. The sprint would also keep him from freezing, so it was two birds with one stone.

Surrounded by nothing but half-frozen trees blanketed by snow, and an all encompassing whiteness as far as he could see, the only thing exempt from this almost unchanging landscape were the small traces of dirt that had been kicked up, serving as a dead giveaway of a trail that had been recently used for the past couple of days. As good a place as any, the first part was done and over, and in a couple more hours, it was going to be time to pounce on his prey.

“You swing it like this. If you bend it the other way, you're not getting the most out of your swing, see.”

“No, no, it's more like this, and then like this. Captain, what do you think?”

It was late afternoon and the sun was setting, more than a day and a half had passed since Axle arrived, and a large caravan, surrounded by countless soldiers, all dressed in infantry uniforms, brandishing nothing but spears, swords, and bows, all the traditional weapons one would expect from a garrison of knights. Walking in single file, Axle got low to the ground, resting his head on the surface, making out the subtle vibrations with the palm of his hand and the sound of metal echoing underground with his ear.

“One…four…sixteen…twenty four…and thirty in total.” That wasn’t too bad considering they were at most between beginners to novices in relative skill to his own from the way they carried themselves. If things went smoothly enough, Axle could just swoop by, steal his target, and make his getaway without having rousing any suspicion and finish ahead of time.

With nearly 2.5 million  on the line, he just needed to do enough jobs to raise the last 100,000 . All it would require would be a couple of small jobs he could, that, by his estimates, wouldn’t take longer than a few weeks to finish if he stuck to the one-and-done ones. Then he’d have enough to finish the remodeling and construction. Taking one of the keys from the keyring around his waist, he chose from the Silver Keys, swiping the air as light began to shine around him.

“Open, Gate of the Silver Hero! Perseus!” As the light died down, Axle was met with the visage of a hero clad in white and blue armor, brandishing a sword nearly as tall as him as his cape fluttered in the north wind. Muscles bulging and back stretched out to show the full height of his spectacular build, the Celestial Spirit towered over his master, glancing from him to the caravan.

“Well if it isn’t my cute little master ♥. I hope this is a social call, since you never seem to write anymore. And it's been FOREVER since it's been just the two of us.”

Perseus skewed out, fidgeting in place like a young girl in love. Perseus, among his repertoire of Celestial Spirits, was an oddity of his own, but not in a bad way. He was OVERLY affectionate to a nearly uncomfortable level than he would like, but his heart was in the right place. In terms of choices, Axle chose him the most frequently in battle, a decision born from just how versatile and flexible he was alongside him in a battle. In retrospect, it was easy enough for Perseus to interpret it as favoritism, but Axle wasn’t about to correct him on this line of thinking. If it made him happy to believe that, he’d let sleeping dogs lie.

“Whoa, whoa, easy there big guy, there'll be enough of that later, I need a favor from you,” Axle coughed, trying to maintain his composure.

“Oh? Here I thought it was all pleasure and no business, what a tease. Now then, what can I do for you Axle?” With that last sentence, Perseus’s personality flipped a switch, no traces of the flamboyant spectacle remained, he was conducting himself in a manner befit an actual warrior.

“See those guys over there, all I need is for you to buy me some time while I make my getaway with whatever they are guarding. So I just need you to distract them for as long as you can, easy.”

“Oh is that all? Honey, it'll be over before you've even started.” And with that, Perseus took a frontward assault to the company of soldiers, while Axle circled from the back, catching them from their blindspot as the battle started.

Swinging his sword in a wide arc, Perseus uprooted the earth and sent rocks toward his target.

“Attention, we're under attack! Don’t let him near the relic, surround him,” barked out one.

“Someone let the captain know, wake him up!” Screamed another.

Perseus wasn’t impressed, he felt his presence was too much for someone of such a basic level, but he did as he was told. A hail of arrows shot from crossbows rained down on his body, impaling him from all over as the closest-most infantry men let their spears aim true, skewered the belly up. Without so much as batting an eye, the foreign objects simply fell on the ground, slipping off as water drained from their exit wounds and began pooling around his feet, much to the horror of those watching.

“M-Monster!”

“Some kind of Mage, it has to be magic,” assumed another.

“I prefer the term BEAUTIFUL, but to each their own.” Snatching one of the spears, Perseus spun it overhead and smashed it straight into the group of archers, shattering their crossbows. As things heat up, what started as a group of ten, escalated into more than twenty soldiers, all rushing to slash, stab, and impale the creature to no avail, with the last ten surrounding their prize. Silently scuttering across the soft mounds of snow, Axle was grateful for their presence since they worked great to camouflage in, given that the jacket and apparel were mostly white in design.

Spreading his weight evenly across his whole body, his crawl on all fours was reminiscent of an animal on the prowl, without eliciting so much as a crunch from the snow as he stood moments away from attack. *Ten spread evenly, 5 feet apart in a circle, hmmm.* With minimal armor, bar their helmets and chest/shoulder guards, each should go down with a simple, well-placed blow. If he wanted to get in and out without getting chased, not to mention any of them being conscious enough to send in a report of his presence here. He’d have to be quick, no more than a few moments on each before quickly working his way up to the next in quick succession. The window was small but manageable, thanks to Persues’ distraction underway.

“It's now or never, maximum effort,” leaping off the ground, Axle somersaulted through the air, his shadow spreading across the soldier with what remained of the sun setting behind him. Sending his full weight behind a kick planted with both legs against his chest, the blow sent him plastering against the carriage with what he thought carried the treasure he was here to recover.

“AGWAAA!” Bellowed the infantryman, his head slamming against the hard wooden surface as the loud “clunk” of his helmet alerted the nine others to what was going on.

*Double time it Axle*. Kicking off the ground, the only trace left of him were small tracks of footprints left from the jump, reappearing underneath the next to slam his arm against the side of his chin, the force sending him spinning several times in mid-air toward the direction of the next soldier, barreling the two across the snow like a cannon into unconsciousness. Seven more now. As they began to ready their swords, Axle kept the pressure high without letting up, running headlong toward two others, grasping at their necks with both hands with enough force to cut off their breathing. As they struggled for air, they clawed and beat against his arms, now like vices clenched tightly against their windpipes as the flailing began to cease, gently fading from consciousness, tossing them to the ground in preparation for the next onslaught.

“Bastard, you're not gonna get away with this, he’ll stop you!”

“He?” Axle glanced around, but had little time to do so as swords came flying in every which direction. With Five left. Four of them rushed him numerous directions, for the first two blades closest to him, he caught them between his middle and index fingers on both hands, strongly arming them to intercept the other two blades, as he tugged on them using even more force than that of the soldiers wielding them. Their faces were contorting with pain as exasperated breath and grunting became more and more ragged, their muscles swelling from trying to reign control back from Axle in a futile struggle for ownership. Axle on the other hand was perfectly placid, using the same strength required to hold a toothpick with his fingers for this endeavor. Jerking the swords to an angle, Axle caught the other two blades that would have struck him from across his torso and countered, swinging them against one another with enough force to knock them out of the soldier’s hands.

Throwing a series of punches aimed carefully around their most vulnerable areas, Axle struck true, landing body blows that knocked all the wind out of them, gasping and in pain, immoble on the ground. The last one. The last line of defense between him and the goal was shaking like a leaf in the wind, barely even able to hold his sword properly in some half-measure attempt to stand in his way as one last act of defiance. Axle respected the attempt, one couldn’t find many people that could hold true to their guns like that before an absolute opposition from the enemy. And he really didn’t want to use more strength than he had to to such an adversary. With that in mind, Axle inhaled and exhaled, darting from side-to-side, slipping past the soldier’s peripheral vision, and knocking him across the back of his neck with a heavy-handed chop.

“Finally, that takes care of that,” he said nonchalantly, glancing off at the distance, that Perseus was still entertaining the rest of the infantry, leaving him all alone with the caravan. Taking a few steps forward, Axle was surprised with how giddy he was, probably because his curiosity was peaked he mused. He didn’t know what to expect. Was it some kind of treasure one would marvel at a boutique, or some ancient stalwart relic you’d be used to seeing in some museum. As his thoughts wandered, he felt quite accomplished with himself, Axle swung the door open to the carriage, ready to find his prize. However, things were rarely ever that simple. What greeted him wasn’t a treasure box, jewels, or some antique. No. It was the hard leather boot of some half-asleep knight, stomping Axle directly on top of his nose, followed by the loud crunch of bone breaking underfoot the hard soles.

“So you’re the creep making all that racket huh!!”

There it was, Axle thought, his old friend paranoia was back, and back with a vengeance.

What struck him first, as difficult as he could believe, wasn’t the fact that his nose was broken. Or the additional fact that he was flying through the air, breaking every tree he slammed into with his bare back. It was his stomach of all things. Like a bad case of indigestion, he could feel all the knots there, like butterflies fluttering in circles. By the time he had stopped moving, Axle lay slumped up against a large tree, arms stuck in the trunk, blood gushing down from his nose and all over his white jacket, illustrating just how damaged it was.

And it all suddenly came rushing. He had let his guard down like a total chump just because there wasn’t anyone standing. *Reckless. Sloppy.* He thought, and every other derogatory word he could think of to deride himself for landing himself in this predicament. As much as he would like to blame Benedict, he had warned him that they apprehended most of the letters asking for a knightly escort, MOST being the key word. He had never considered the possibility that there would have already been someone of this knight’s calibur present to begin with. That was his first mistake. The second was thinking this was going to be anything but easy.

“MASTER!!!” Perseus echoed, sprinting through the snow-blanketed forest to where Axle had landed.

“Your nose. Who would have the nerve of laying a finger on your precious face!”

“Don’t know. Didn’t get a good look after getting my ass kicked in. But he wasn’t like the others. He’s gotta be at least a couple leagues above the rest.” Axle surmised, delicately wiping the blood from his nose.

“You’d be right, knave, your way over your head,” spoke the stranger.

He was completely different from the others. Axle couldn’t exactly place it, but the man exuded confidence, the kind that contrasted the reckless superiority one had over others weaker than themselves he was so used to seeing. His seemed humble, but strong in its foundation. Unlike the infantry men, he was dressed in what one would think an ideal knight should be: noble and brave. He came clad in armor, not white or shining like in some exaggerated fairy tale, but metallic grey, worn down, it had seen combat in one form or the other, and a sword hilt along his waist. But what truly drew his eyes was the deep crimson cape he had around his neck, doubling as a hoodie that obscured his face.

“Arrogant little bastard, just because you snuck up on him doesn’t mean you’ve won yet.” With that, Persues lunged forward with fury in his eyes, discarding the spear he was using from the soldiers in favor of his own personal sword.

From behind them, the rest of the infantry that Perseus was busy distracting had followed them straight to their captain’s position. What shocked him more was that some of the soldiers he had knocked around were stumbling to his side as well. They were tenacious of nothing else.

“Now you're gonna get it!” One of the soldiers cheered on.

“Show em’ what a real knight can really do!”

“Hehe, guess I got no choice. When they get this rowdy, I can’t help but want to show off. Hope you can forgive me for being a little selfish with this yea?” The knight declared.

In a similar approach, the knight met the Celestial Spirit head-on, drawing his sword, and cleaving through the air to meet the large mass of iron. The duo began exchanging a flurry of slashes, neither able to land a decisive slash, but enough to land small cuts here and there on each other. The sound of metal on metal rang out as sparks began to dance in the cold air, carving up the terrain below their feet in some vain stranglehold to beat the other into submission.

The movement was dazzling to spectate, nearly all the infantrymen were present and accounted for, cheering one of their own with everything they had. To the simple man, it would appear both were equally matched. But Axle was not simple. And did notice the sheer difference in ability between the two of them. Almost immediately, that was when he started to worry.

“This is the first time I’ve come across a Celestial Spirit, you're definitely better than I expected. Shame your boss is a no good lousy crook.” Spitting out that last word with extra emphasis, he held his ground, sword grinding against the razors edge of Perseus blade, inches away from his armor, arm trembling from the stand off.

“You just don’t know when to quit, do you! If you think for a SECOND you’re walking out of this alive, then you're stupider than you look!”

“PERSEUS!”

Transforming into water, Perseus phased through the knight’s sword and slid off to the side, sword held overhead and ready to bring it down on the enemy’s head with full force.

His body language betrayed the sense of surprise coming from him. The knight seized up for a moment, but just as quickly relaxed. Rather than evade, the time that could've been used to escape was used to sheath his sword. And as if to drive the point further, he opened his arms, stretching them outward to welcome the attack, goading the Celestial Spirit further.

The sword struck true. And before anyone could react, Perseus’ iron blade connected, striking the knight across the top of his head, ready to cleave him in half. But what escaped wasn’t the sound of bone crunching or the warm splatter of viscera against stone, but a noise that one least expected from an exchange of sword and flesh: a loud ring. Like metal struck on an anvil, a sharp clang echoed from his sword to the crowd of spectators, so strong in fact, that Axle could feel the shake from blow reverberate in his bones, a ring piercing his ears as he used both hands to block out most of the shock.
“Impossible! How are you doing this?!” Perseus’ sword was resting atop of his target’s head, almost stationary as he struggled to nudge the blade even further into the enemy’s skull. The blade began to screech from the pressure, grinding against the knight’s head in a manner that betrayed all conventional logic.

“Oh man, if that was anyone else, I doubt they'd still be standing here. You're strong. If you're going to throw that strength at the king’s men, then as his majesty’s knight, I can’t afford to show you or your master any mercy.”

In his brief exchange, the knight’s right arm began to glow with a myriad of colors as the last vestiges of the sunset’s light reflected off the twinkle of his polished hand, almost crystalline in its appearance. Reeling his arm in, the knight rested his left hand on his right shoulder to brace himself to attack, as Perseus made for an easy target being so close with both hands occupied. Letting a sharp exhale escape, he thrust with extreme force directly into the Celestial Spirit’s stomach.

“Diamond Dragon's Stronghold Breaker!”

Overwhelming strength. Such as it was that it was too much for Persues to handle, the blow not only knocking a hole through his abdomen, but sending everything around it flying in a drizzle of water and ripped fabric from his iconic blue suit. The shockwave burst straight through the spirit and swallowed anything encompassing his back, sending trees, rocks, and debris flying, paving a new road through the forest that was miles in length.

“Diamond Dragon?!” Axle murmured.

“A-Axle…” echoed Perseus, fading away as what was left of his body faded away into light, leaving his sword behind.

“A Dragon Slayer, here of all places?” He said aloud, slowly walking to where his Celestial Spirit had fallen, kneeling down to examine the shreds of fabric scattered around with his hand, lifting his sword with one hand, examining the point where the knight and blade had met and immediately noticing the blunt edge, his face hardening as his attention drew toward the Dragon Slayer.

“Now it makes sense why he couldn’t cut you. And Taking Perseus out in one punch. I always figured you guys were just an exaggeration. But I guess there’s some truth to all that bluster isn’t there?” He took a few steps closer.

“I hardly think killing a Dragon is anything but ‘bluster’, I mean, how many people can say they've done that?”

“Spare me. You’re just a glorified poacher posing as a treasure hunter, and you're standing in my way.” Axle retorted.

“And you're better? Don’t forget, the only reason we’re in this predicament in the first place is because you tried to take something that wasn’t yours.”

“Last I checked, those ruins didn’t belong to anybody, the same goes with whatever you find there.”

“We can argue in circles all day, but we both know how this is going to end so why bother wasting another breath.” The knight finalized.

“Now you're talking sense.”

“A knight’s chivalry demands we duel on equal footing, with our honor on the line. The knight Nico Esclados will be your opponent.”

“If we’re just going to throw names out there, Axle Strider’s mine.”

Standing face-to-face, Nico and Axle were mere inches away from one another, close enough for one to land the first blow to this battle of Mages.

"Well, bring on the next one."

"I'm sorry, huh?"

"Another spirit. I'm not too familiar with your magic, but from what I've seen, you let others fight for you since you can't do it yourself right? I’m not so cowardly as to fight someone who’s essentially unarmed, much less unable to defend themselves."

"That's an interesting conclusion you reached,” Axle chimed in, crossing his arms bemusingly toward Nico as a smile crept up. “What, you think I can’t fight my own battles?” He said sarcastically.

“Of course n—,” before he could finish, a punch burrowed its way deep into the pit of his stomach, sinking deep enough for Nico to spit up all the air from his lungs, followed by specks of blood as his intestines curled up in pain. Knocking him off his feet and flying violently toward the caravan, Nico crashed and skidded off the ground as he landed against the wooden surface, knocking straight through the side-door until he was on the other side, creating a hole through their transport, tearing the roof off and sending its innards sprawled out on the snowy field, with Nico laid out cold floor.

Axle stood there, completely still, his right hand smoking from a combination of heat in the cold air and force used to send Nico violently across the white plains, as he exhaled a white cloud of steam through his teeth like a locomotive as he eased the muscles in his arm, returning back to their initial form as the rest of the infantrymen stood there in shock.

“When did I ever tell you I couldn’t fight?”

## A Map to Nowhere

“Damn. Hit him harder than I meant to.”

Examining his hand, Axle felt a momentarily twinge of guilt for attacking him so abruptly, but quickly reevaluates his opinion however; Nico had assumed that he was incapable of fighting in hand-to-hand combat, and in hindsight, that was more his own fault for using half-baked assumptions based on his magic. Still, he didn’t want to kill him, as he didn’t want to escalate things unnecessarily. Axle switched his attention toward the wreckage of debris loitering around the broken carriage, making out several items of note.

From paintings depicting old nobility, to traditional treasure one might expect to find in some tomb, neither of which interested him in the slightest. Anything less than what he came here for would only slow him down, and he doubted he could take enough without getting out unscathed in a chase with the Dragon Slayer. Getting on his knees, Axle quickly scrounged through the piles of priceless artifacts and valuables looking for what the mystery item behind his job could be.

“C’mon, somethings gotta scream ‘treasure’ in all this treasure.”

Axle doubted that his employer would bother hiring him just to steal regular old gold and jewels, if he did, he would have just sent someone else to steal some jewelry store for all that it was worth otherwise. So it had to be something one couldn’t find through traditional means.

“Oh, what's this?” Catching a glimpse of a small box, the square structure came embroidered with an intricate set of symbols and cloth wrapped around in various layers. Glancing at the language inscribed, he couldn’t make heads-or-tails on its origins, and from the rest of the pile, seemed as the most important and unique piece from the collection. Undoing the wrapping, the box was ancient, what little color there was left on its design and lettering was faded and illegible, with a single lock keeping him from the contents withheld within.

“Well that’s annoying,” Axle spat, simply pinching the metal lock with his thumb and index finger.
Although he was a Celestial Spirit Mage, Axle wasn’t like the traditional type one might expect to conduct themselves using this type of magic. Whereas they would heavily rely on Celestial Spirits to fight on their behalf due to a lack of fighting ability on their part. Axle’s sheer battle prowess already put him leagues above other Mages, garnering him the respect and title befit someone of his station as an A-Rank Mage. His magic in question only served to elevate that even further by applying martial arts alongside Fighting Magic, making him an undisputed master of the fist.

With the force applied, the muscles around his fingers began to swell, the veins bulging as the pressure building crushed it underneath, ripping the lock from the front as it sprang open, revealing a map. Riddled with all kinds of symbols and pictures, Axle couldn’t make out the details, the best he could do was recognize some of the geography and iconography used to relate specific locations with pictures.

“Aha, this has got to be it. And all this fuss over some map? Whatever. Benedict can sort the rest out.”

Before he could study it further, a large explosion breezed past him from the other side of the carriage where Nico was resting. Jumping back to his feet, Axle felt himself tense up, working himself up in preparation of their eventual skirmish, putting the map away inside his jacket for safe keeping.

“(Cough)...Ugh…So, you don't just run your mouth off without good reason. I won't be making that mistake twice.”

Spitting the blood in his mouth across the ground, Nico’s magic began to flare up around him, an incredible spectacle of blue light flashing around, the ground giving way from the escalating pressure. With his hair fluttering in the air, Nico broke out in a sprint, running at top speed and gaining momentum, charging head-first with a right hook throttling toward Axle’s head.

“It shouldn't have happened in the first place idiot,” Axle countered. Taking a step back, Axle ducked, bending backward slightly to just narrowly evade the blow by a hair's length, the punch ironically shearing several strands as it flew through the air. With him wide-open, Axle stretched his arm, curling his hand into a fist that he swung upward toward Nico’s chin. However, once he had made contact, a sudden shock of pain shot its way from his fingers up to his shoulder, his hand tingling at the tips of his knuckles.

“GWAAA! What the hell?!” Axle cried out, jumping back to distance himself.

“Who’s the idiot now? They don’t call me a ‘Diamond’ Dragon Slayer for nothing you know.” To cue him in, Nico pointed down along his chin and neck, revealing a beautiful pattern of diamond scales growing along his skin. Extending underneath his clothes, they grew to encompass the skin and gauntlets around his hands, now adopting their iconic crystal-like appearance from before.
“Well, I figured I could break you and your cheap jewelry all at the same time, but I guess that was me being too optimistic heh.” His heart was pounding, not due to exhaustion or anxiety, but the sheer exhilaration building. *He’s no slouch.*

Sweat rolled down the side of his cheek as Axle clutched his right hand with the other. The bones were still intact, a little shaken, but still functional. The only real damage he had suffered from that brief exchange was the skin over his knuckles, ripped open from the tips as blood trailed down his wrist, clenching and unclenching it to get the feeling back into the tips of his fingers, still numb from just how hard he struck his diamond scales.

“Okay. No more pulling punches then, the gloves come off.” Flicking his wrist, Axle flung the blood on his right hand off to the side. Getting on all fours, Axle’s teeth began to flare, baring them out like an animal as the hairs on his head began to stand on end, his posture similar to a predator ready to pounce. In quick response, his magic was gathering in large quantities around his body, most prominently around his hands and feet.

Vanishing in place, Axle trekked through the snow in a succession of quick jumps, barely indicated if not for the small impressions being made on the soft surface by the faintest traces of what looked like four tracks created by some invisible force.

The motion was almost imperceivable by the untrained eye. Axle landed a large gash carved out across Nico’s back, stretching from the corner of his right shoulder, all the way to the furthest most section of his hips, sparks glistening from the sharp scratches on the smooth glass surface of his skin. His nails, sharpened to a fine point and grown akin to the claws of a large beast, were in utter shambles. Broken for the base, they now more closely resembled their former length. Axle was surprised, even after the boost, he was STILL the one on the receiving end even if Nico hadn’t landed any blows yet.

As Axle came circling back, Ricardo was already planning his next step. His hearing was sharp, so was his sense of smell, not too dissimilar to other Dragon Slayers. Everytime Axle came in for an attack, there was always the smallest trace of smell that reappeared whenever he was up close. For as fast as he could appear and disappear at will, that particular smell, the scent of blood from his hand, and the beads of sweat radiating off him like clouds of smoke, gave away just how close he was. Just as the next volley of blows came tumbling across his chest, Nico simply stood there, raising his hands to take the brunt of the cuts, taking in as much air as he could and biding his time until the smell vanished again. And once it did, the barrage ended.

“Right there. Diamond Dragon Dust Storm!”

Exhaling a shower of fine dust gathered in his mouth and expunged with a heavy breath from the top of his lungs, they were gently carried by the wind, scattering everywhere around him, blanketing the snow in a layer of brightly colored powder. Even at night, they sparkled and glowed with an uncanny sheen of colors, like the first rays of sunlight shining on morning dew, its splendor highlighting the dark like a rainbow.

Still hovering around Nico, Axle just about stopped himself mid-way, but was caught unaware as he stood underneath the rain of fine debris, falling on his clothes and hair, the consistency reminded him of sand or dirt, and in equal measure, patted himself off. To his surprise, Axle struggled to move, his body cramping up, growing more rigid by the second, his body shaking and trembling to perform even the most basic of movements, as his attention fell squarely on Nico, standing several meters away in what looked like blind satisfaction.

“W-What did you, ugh! Do to me!?” Axle grunted.

“If I couldn't catch you, all I needed was for you to stand still long enough for me to put an end to this. I was lucky enough that you were close by when I did.” Nico wiped off some of his own dust off his shoulder, tumbling from his arm down to a nearby flower. As soon as the two made contact, the flower was almost immediately consumed by the same diamond-like texture that appeared on his skin across as it grew along the flower’s petals and stem, now less of a flower and more of a gem in the shape of one.

It immediately clicked for Axle. As shot glances from the ground to his clothes, the snow-covered terrain, as well as all the indigenous life around them in the form of trees and plants were little more than shadow of their former selves, now almost crystalline in form, the terrain shining brilliantly like a sea of stars under the moonlight, with Axle being no exception.
The soft fur that made up his hoodie was now rigid and hard, while several strands of hair atop of his head were slowly undergoing the same transformation as his body would inevitably wind up an overgrown diamond before long.

“Relax,” Nico chimed in, noticing the look of panic welling up on Axle’s face.

“I’m not going to kill you. There's too many questions I have that I’m sure his majesty has too. How you knew about our route. Why you came come to steal our cargo. No. You’ll just be sleeping until we get back home.” Nico exclaimed.

“T-That’s not…” He cut himself off. As more of his body slowly succumbed, it became harder for him to speak. As far as how impaired he had become, only the outside was being directly affected by Nico’s magic. If it wasn’t for the long trench coat and gloves he was wearing, more of his skin and body would have been more affected. The only part he had to worry about was his hair, the crystals now enveloping a good portion of his head, slowly stretching to cover the side of his cheek.

The panic that he felt wasn't from the threat of becoming a living crystal. He was experienced enough to know how to defend himself against just such a threat, and he could deal with that later. The source of all his dread was centered around his immediate concern for the map in his breast pocket that was on the verge of becoming just another piece of jewelry. Between himself or the map, Axle had a choice to make. Struggling to move his left hand, it stood closest to his waist where his keys were, his fingers struggling to catch them, simply jingling in the air the more he fiddled with them. Finally with a silver key between his fingers, Axle tugged on them until they fell in the palm of his hand, doing a quick flourish through the air as light began to gather.

“O-Open…Gate of…The Silver…Shield…Scutum!” Axle squeaked.

“Not this again.” Nico said with bated breath.

While Axle was still incapacitated, he noticed the same similar light from before when Perseus faded away. The clear sign that he was trying to summon another Celestial Spirit. Nearly leaping through the air, Nico tumbled out like a rocket, racing to the Axle at maximum speed, his right arm gathering their scales in preparation for his next attack. If Axle hadn’t tried to break free, Nico was more than content to simply let the diamond to fully form around him and drag him back to the castle. But now, he had to speed up the process and knock him out in one fell swoop, the thought leaving a sour taste, as he wasn’t the kind of man to attack someone so vulnerable.

With a final step, Ricardo swung his arm upward, ready to let his fist fall on top of Axle’s head, the force from the motion so strong in fact, that Nico uprooted what was left of the natural ground from the sheer force generated. Just as he struck true, all he could swipe at was empty air where his foe’s head should have been. With the only thing managing to receive his heavy-handed blow was his trench coat and gloves, Nico smashed them into thousands of pieces, fragments spreading into every which direction, indistinguishable from one another.

“That…was too close,” Axle echoed out, several feet away from his initial location, now brandishing what looked like a shield with a strange face on it.

“Only because you took too long boy! You’re getting sloppy.” Scutum retorted.

“Hmph! Body of Avalon!” Axle’s body was enveloped in a bright green glow that illuminated the darkness of the night, reflecting off the diamond sheen of the crystal floor. And as the light stretched on around him, all the plants and fauna slowly reverted back to their original state, purifying them from their petrification in the same manner Axle was. With his coat gone, as well as his shirt, all scattered into a crystal debris, he was shirtless, his bare skin exposed to the elements, night air sending shivers and goosebumps crawling around his torso.

“Back to square on then. It’s like a whole thing with you. Back-and-forth, where’s it end? Just how much longer do yo—,”

“No, no, no!” Axle screamed in abject horror. He was moving so fast, that he nearly slipped on the ground, sliding across the diamond floor right next to Nico, desperately running his fingers through the shattered remains of his coat, trying in vain to piece together the contents.

“Don't you realize what you’ve done?! The Map! THE MAP I FOUND IN YOUR CARGO WAS IN MY JACKET, AND YOU CRUSHED IT!!” Axle hissed, unable to hide the fury in his voice.

“Oh…”

Nico stood there, dumbfounded, in shock in the realization that he’d destroyed what could have possibly been the most important part of their cargo.