Memoirs of Montreal - Rescue

*“Apá!”*

*A young girl flies over to an older gentleman who sits beside a bigger Transformed man. The human man stands just taller than the teenaged girl at five foot four, while his partner towers over them. Gray peppers his hair and smile lines are prominent as he grins at her and catches her as she falls from the sky.*

*“Whoa there,” he exclaims as she giggles with glee, “Is this how the fabled hero, Toci, acts on the job?” He grins over at the clouded leopard-man, who shakes his head and sips on some tea. “Shame,” pipes up the Transformed, putting his cup down, “Thought she would be more like father. Broody.”*

*“Hey now,” responds the human as he flicks a magical spark his way, “I grew out of that.” The young girl and Transformed share a look and laugh at the human’s expense, who only rolls his eyes in response. “My own husband and daughter have turned against me, where’s my hero now!” He feigns disbelief as a pitbull zooms in and jumps onto the girl’s lap and assaults her with saliva and joy.*

*“Khloe,” she shouts as she giggles through, “My only weakness!”*

*After a few minutes of laughter and dog playing, the four of them calm down enough to sit around the garden with glasses of horchata, the sun beating down on them. “Now,” starts the adult man, putting down his empty glass, “what did you want to talk to us about hermosita?”*

*“Oh!” The young girl pulls out an old leather bound book, it is sealed tight with blue runes and black tendrils as though they were meant to keep its contents in side. On the cover, the name **Rescue** is emblazoned and glows with a mighty blue hue. The man gingerly takes the book from her and runs a hand over it with a sigh.*

*“This takes me back..” he mutters as he looks longingly at it. The  leopard man pulls him closer to him and puts a hand on the book as while, all while the young girl watches on.*

*“Apá, Bábá, I was hoping you could tell me what was in the book,” says the young girl, sitting between them, “I hear all kinds of stories of your life as Search and Rescue, but I don’t recognize this book. Is it important?”*

*The adult couple look at each other and nod as the both place their flattened hands over the cover. Magic pours out of their hands as the magic on the book dissipates and fades away. Once the bindings release, the words **Montreal**appear and the page opens on its own and the pages flip to a blank middle.*

*“This is the story of a world known as Montreal…”*

## Chapter 1: Entry Point

My name is Angel Martinez-Niccals. I’m writing this in hopes that one day, I can share this story with a more unified world. A world where we don’t fight over differences or try and start wars with one another. A place where we can talk freely about this crazy world we live in. I should include some story and maybe take a few extra precautions here.
Some people know me as the hero Rescue. I’m not the best out there, but I’m still learning and I’m trying my hardest. I have a life long partner, her name is Khloe. Well, her hero name is Search, but I can’t call her that all the time. It’ll only confuse the poor girl. And, no, she isn’t a lover. She’s my dog! A Pitbull who was raised from the dead and given the gift of life. As in, like, healing magic. Complicated.
My boyfriend, Pulalu, is currently sleeping next to me as I write. He was so worried when I said I’d be going to a place that was supposed to be underwater. Once I got back, he wouldn’t stop doting on me and worrying over everything. It’s sweet. I hope we get to share this life forever…
Anyways, back to my story.
People know that a long time ago the city of Montreal was lost to the world. The only things left were ruins and water. However, another Montreal seems to exist outside of this one. A Montreal that belongs to another Realm. A Spirit Realm, to be precise. In this realm, a whole rich life lives and moves ever onward unbeknownst to the normal human. How do I know this? Well, I’m not just a hero. In me lives the power of a Deep Realm Spirit known as the Horrorterrors. Chaotic beings who seem to feed on blood and misery. It’s a long story, but when I took them on and the previous watchers of the Spirit Realms moved away, I took it upon myself to keep a close eye on these things.
Well, that’s what I’d like people to believe, at least. The whole truth is that a Prince from that Realm came to ours in search of my best friend, Rhiannon. The hero known as The Morrigan. She was the one who saved Zodiac City from falling to Halcyon by creating the aptly named Zodiac Tree. However, she also has a connection to the Spirit Realms and as such something unexpected happened. This Fish Prince, known as Narsus, claimed that the tree was destroying his home of Montreal.
After a few weeks of getting to know him, we found out he’s actually a nice-ish guy. We met his two brothers as well. Tidus, the middle child with so much angst and anger built inside and daddy issues, and his eldest brother, Gaius, the Crown Prince and one of the most attractive people I’ve met. Well, out of all the Aquilonians anyways. The scales and fish heads are kind of hot, but Pulalu and his big furry body are tough to beat.
Regardless, things were getting along...swimmingly. One day though, Narsus left for Montreal and was planning to turn himself in to his people in order to save us. More precisely, Rhiannon. The Montrealians wanted war with us. We were the cause of their home being slowly eaten away, and the king wanted someone to pay. After being a sneaky bastard and going away, Rhiannon was...not in the best place. I asked my mentor, Hex, if there was a way to use Deep Realm magic via the Horrorterrors. He was...adamant on how dangerous this was. I didn’t care. I wanted Narsus back. I wanted Rhiannon back. And, most of all, I wanted to prove myself as a hero who could save two worlds.
Selfish, I know, but I’m still a kid. Not an excuse, just a statement.
Hex told me to get a team together for Montreal, said it would be dangerous. I...tried my best to pick the best people out. Rhiannon was immediately on board, as much as I wanted her to stay behind and take time to herself. But, her magic is way stronger than mine. If I didn’t take her, she’d force her way to Montreal.
Seth is quiet, but he has some good experience with the carapace warriors down there. He’s also probably the most handy in a fight. Well, Elle and Gwen are too, but when it comes to their family (Rhiannon) they get a bit hot headed. I mean, they’re hot headed all the time, but this would have been far worse.
Rekken...I’m not sure why I chose her exactly. Maybe I needed someone who could bring a smile to my face. Maybe I was hoping that her being a robot would make her more durable and less susceptible to any weird biology shit that could go down. All I know is, she felt like the right choice.
Aman and Elle were...not very happy with my decision to exclude them from this. Some harsh words were thrown at me and Elle even left a few bruises. But, I know we’re still friends. They’re good people, but the emotional investment would’ve been too high, I think. Sometimes, though, I really wished we had Elle’s spear or Aman’s Eye. It really could’ve helped us out.
One day, I got the call from Hex. It was time to go to Montreal. Search and I got ready as best we could and I called everyone I could to let them know. Pulalu was first, couldn’t have him worrying about me too much. Next was Super Dad, Cyclone, we couldn’t have the leader of the Big Team not knowing where his kids were. Finally, I called up my team to meet me at Hex’s place so we could go. But, I don’t think anything could have prepared me for my first trial.
I had to leave Khloe behind.
Khloe’s...a part of me. We’ve been together since I was a kid. We’re soulmates. One can’t function properly without the other. Well, I can’t operate without her, at least. I was devastated. I never thought I’d spend a single day without her. And yet, Hex said it was necessary. He was properly right, looking back on it. Montreal is no place for a dog. After some goodbyes, and cryptic mumblings from Madge, we started to pull through to Montreal.
And, of course, it was not going to be as simple as that. The magic of the Horrorterrors started to chase after us as we moved forward, threatening to swallow us whole and snuff out our light. It was touch and go for a bit there, to be honest. It took a lot of magic and bullshit from all four of us to stop it and break through, but we may have taken it too literally.
Each of us were shot out of Montreal’s sky in different directions, unsure of where we would land or what would happen. Thankfully, I had given everyone some communicators in case an event like this happened. Un-thankfully, I found myself caught up in some underwater current travelling a bit too fast and not so furious. I have no idea how long I was stuck flailing around as I was getting tossed around this way and that.
Next thing I know, these two authority looking Aqualonians swim up beside me and ask for me to “pull over” so we could talk. Or for me to get arrested, really, seeing as I was not a fish and also very Human. After some explaining on “no I don’t have fins please just tell me how to get out of here” I was freed from my watery prison only to be asked questions and to be led to their...police station? I’m not too sure, but I saw a poster announcing Narsus’ execution to be happening that day. I asked for some verification and an explanation on how time works only to be taken to what I could only describe as the most beautiful I sight I’ve seen. Montreal was beautiful. Her sky is so different from ours, and yet it evoked the same feeling of peace and serenity one would get from looking at the clouds. Everything was...breathtaking. I wanted to stay there forever…
But, we had a mission to carry out and Rhiannon made sure we were gonna do it. I could feel her magic calling out to me, tugging me away from where I stood and dragging me to her. After some flirting with the cops, I let her magic take me away and found myself standing alongside my companions atop a balcony at the palace. Down below? Narsus and his execution party. There was little time to act and everything started to blur together as Rhiannon blocked Narsus from everyone using on her spells.
After that, I’m not entirely sure what happened. Seth and Rekken, who brought a child with her, for some reason, were down with Narsus. Rhiannon was channeling spells and I acted as her back up, keeping spears and arrows away from her and doing my best to keep the guards from getting to my friends. Eventually, Rhiannon was able to get down to the rest and was readying a teleportation spell for them. I could hear the doors slam open behind me, but I didn’t care. All I wanted was to make sure Rhiannon and the others got away safely. I made sure part of that happened, at least.
It was wishful thinking on my end that thought Rhiannon would teleport away with them. Instead, she teleported them away to god knows where and stayed behind to try and get me out. Not the smartest decision, but the thought was nice. She was pinned down and I was surrounded by Gaius and his guards. I was sure Gaius was putting on a show to keep the people on his side, so I did what seemed the most reasonable. I turned myself and Rhiannon in to be captured. Better than the two of us getting culled for being idiots and trying to fight off a whole army. I still don’t know the full extent of my powers and Rhiannon’s can be finicky at times.
Besides, I trusted Gaius. Not just because he was attractive, but because he was the one who left us clues on how to get to him and save Narsus. From what I could tell, he was a really nice guy and someone I could trust. All I could do while the shackles kept me and my magic down, was that I didn’t turn out to be wrong..