Urban Knight - Return of Legends

Somewhere, sometime, Ascalon awakened, his body feeling dull and rigid, his vision blurry, and his mind still somewhat asleep. What was he doing before? That’s right… the demon, his companions’ fate, the Goddess and that unknown entity opposing the light; the memories hit him one by one without mercy.

He shook his head and his thoughts started to race. What had occurred?! “Wh- where am I? What happened?! Athanya’el?!” He called his Goddess's name, but only heard his own voice echoing. He took a moment to calm himself, and looked around.

He was in what seemed to be a… prison? No, a cellar? Some light came through a small window near the ceiling, letting him appreciate strange objects littered around. Some were completely unfamiliar, and some he could recognize like bottles and stools. But most curious were some statues of varying sizes, although it wasn’t something to dwell on at present.

Still disoriented, he stood up and realized his armor was restored, cloak and all, and Exemplaris and Aegis were at his side, on the floor. At least, he had his trusty equipment, and didn’t seem to bear heavy wounds from his last battle.

Was that his Goddess’s parting gift? Gathering himself, he started to stumble along through the darkness, until he saw a wooden staircase and some more light at the top, coming through some gaps in a wall made of the same material as the stairs.

He climbed the stairs, with heavy steps and an exhausted body, and as he got closer to the end he could finally picture a door that looked old and dirty. He tried pushing it, since it had no handle, but it seemed to be blocked from the outside.

With his patience being tested, he pressed his greatshield against the object, then his shoulder against said shield, and pushed with enough strength. The door gave away, hinges and all, and the knight stumbled upon the light among the ruckus he had caused.

Almost blinded by the sudden change in lighting, he shook his head and started to blink, trying to get accustomed to the outside. As he regained his bearings, he scanned his surroundings. He was inside of what seemed like a tavern, with a counter and bottles of different beverages behind it.

But contrary to the place he awoke in, this one was clearly well maintained and clean. It didn’t take him long to notice some really peculiar objects, like a box that emitted a cheerful melody, and also a weird contraption spinning on the ceiling.

He then noticed the mess in front of him. The door, completely broken, over a big piece of furniture he had toppled. Probably what was blocking the passage in the first place. But it was of no importance, he could apologize to the tavern keeper later, as he had to find out where he was first.

There were no signs of people around at the moment, so he looked for an exit, and promptly found it. Ignoring the rest of the room, he sluggishly walked and reached for the nearest door, pushing on the handle to open it.

A fresh breeze of air and warm sunlight greeted him as he emerged from the doorway, to some really foreign surroundings. Big, grayish walls all around him, covered in signs or paintings, and what seemed to be either a language unknown to him or just random gibberish.

The ground was made of a smooth stone-like material, his boots making a pleasant sound as he took a few steps. His confusion and awe were increasing by the second, and he had the feeling that he was far, very far away from home. He had to go back somehow, and learn of what had happened after he lost consciousness and was brought there.

If only he knew, that the very home he wanted to return to was no more, since a long, long time ago.

The knight walked forward as he emerged from the tavern, inspecting the unfamiliar view, his head moving calmly from left to right. There was a lot to take in, like the colorful moving symbols on the walls that reminded him of magic glyphs, or the multitude of different structures that went as far as the eye could see.

As he scanned the area, his gaze finally spotted a person, then another, and then he finally realized that the streets were actually pretty busy. As Ascalon’s attention expanded, he noticed how some of these people were looking at him, with confused looks, some showing curiosity, but most prominently, suspicion.

He even saw a woman drag a child in the opposite direction, so it was clear that he was sticking out like a sore thumb, and not giving out a pleasant impression. “Well, I am a foreigner to these people, I suppose.” He stated to himself, as he walked slowly, his armor making a metallic sound as it moved under his caped cloak.

But something was amiss. Little by little, he became aware of the many different features that these persons had, and some were really surprising to him. Aside from the very human-looking, there were people with animal ears and tails, some even had visible scales on their hands or faces.

He wasn’t familiar with these races, but they all seemed to be cohabitating as if their appearances weren’t out of the norm. Then, why were they looking at him as if he was an anomaly? “Wait…” He paused his advance and looked at his lance and shield, thinking that maybe that was part of the issue.

It wasn’t uncommon for knights to patrol with their equipment at hand, it was actually pretty normal where he came from, but he was starting to realize that no one around him looked as armored as he was.

He wasn’t about to leave Examplaris and Aegis behind, but he was feeling a bit troubled. After all, Ascalon didn’t know the customs of these lands. Maybe their ruler wasn’t fond of people wandering the streets with weapons in hand, and it would probably be even worse when the one walking around all dangerous-looking was a foreign knight. “Hmmm…” He pondered with a relaxed stance, his eye closed and head a bit tilted, and thought of a simple solution that would suffice for the time being.

Ascalon had learned a bit of magic before, from some of the wizards he had met in his crusade, and knew about an incantation that could make his equipment more inconspicuous, so to speak.

The only issue was that he wasn’t very good at magic. He usually relied on his ‘holy’ powers, since they came to him as natural as breathing, but maybe he could try it out.

He breathed in slowly, and focused on his shield and lance, trying to picture them as transparent and incorporeal. It was supposedly very important to have a clear image of what you wanted to conjure, but it was hard to imagine, well, nothing. “Бапїѕн!” He recited the spell, as energy began to well up from within, power overflowing uncontrollably.

He was taken aback by this sudden surge, as he didn’t intend to tap so deep into his holy might; but then again, he didn’t know how long it had been since he had last mustered his strength. In other words, he was a bit out of practice—and it was a total failure too, as his equipment was still as visible as before.

Ascalon sighed in disappointment, but didn’t have time to dwell on it, when he heard a strange, ominous sound coming from a nearby structure.

It wasn’t like anything he had ever heard, and it made him tense up, it was sort of alarming and eerie. He realized then, that people around him were rushing through the street, shouting, panicked. “What is happening?” He asked himself, extremely puzzled, as he quickly looked around trying to understand the situation.

Was it monsters? He couldn’t sense any bloodlust in the air, or the stench of a dark creature lurking nearby, but he was on a foreign land, and unknown dangers could be awaiting him.

He put his guard up and assumed a more serious expression, as he watched people run past him, and prepared himself.

Meanwhile, in a huge building that served as the command center of the city, the siren that started blaring all of a sudden took everyone at the control room by surprise.

Confusion turned into action, as the monitoring specialists began to send alarm signals through the system, prompting the units at the headquarters’ barracks to get ready to go. “Huh?! There were no sightings last night, what’s going on?” Asked a tall, bald man in a corner of the resting room, as he quickly started to suit up. He, alongside everyone else in there, formed part of the defense force of the city: the army so to speak. They weren’t equipped to deal with these kinds of events directly, but were the ones in charge of evacuation.

This particular unit wasn’t expected to be deployed that day, so the confusion was understandable, although they were always prepared in readiness for any kind of situation either way.

In the meantime, another man raised his voice as he started putting on his boots in a rush. “For real, what the hell?! We usually get a warning beforehand!” He, of course, also seemed confused, but mostly annoyed. “Maybe it came from underground? I think there was one like that at… huh, that one city near the border.” A younger one chipped in, and moments later an open palm hit him on the back of his head. “Ouch! Vice-captain?!” He complained, rubbing the back of his head as a bulky man started to walk to the exit.

“It’s called Yerlim, you dumbass! You just graduated from school and already forgot half they taught you!” The strong-looking guy seemed pissed, his face slightly red, but took a moment to compose himself, breathing in and out before stopping in his tracks. “Come on you lot, the captain’s not here, but we have to go. These people are probably scrambling to the shelters right now.” There were important matters at hand.

They had to evacuate the civilians, and the suddenness of the situation was going to be a problem for sure. The man frowned, thinking something was wrong, and crossed the doorway into the courtyard. The rest of the group had just finished gearing up, so they quickly followed after him.

Back at the control room, one of the specialists, a woman with long, brown hair and a very serious expression, made a call to the outside.‎ “Attention, guilds of New Lumingard! I’m sure you’re already aware, but as per protocol, I have to formally request your aid. A huge energy signature has appeared in the Southern block of the city! It has been recognized as kaiju rank. Exact coordinates have been sent.” The call reached dozens of offices across the city—guild halls, headquarters for the many different guilds residing in the surrounding areas.

The request was made in an open channel, so anyone could join in and participate. It didn’t take long for someone to answer, and his picture appeared on a floating screen in front of the specialist.

A young, blonde man with a huge smile, sunglasses covering a pair of purple eyes, and a huge tattoo of a whale on the left side of his face. “Yesss, we hear it loud and clear over here! But there’s something strange, missy!” The guy with a cheery voice was the first to join the call, the ‘manager’ of Whaleyard’s guild, Jay Lorens. “We’re pretty close to the Southern block, as you know, but… there’s no sight of any kaiju from here.” His smile vanished and his face showed a doubtful expression.

"I know the system doesn’t make mistakes often, but… yeah, we don’t even hear a commotion, like giant footsteps or rawr rawr sounds." He paused, and showed a half smile. “But well, there’s certainly a ruckus! Made by people scrambling to safety, alongside that blasted siren!” He laughed heartily as a new picture appeared in front of the now taken aback specialist.

“Graycanyon here. We sent a drone to the skies and it isn’t getting any sort of creature signature on its radar.” This time, the voice belonged to a serious-looking black man. Silver piercings adorned his ears, and scars ran across both sides of his lips. His blue eyes were fixated on another screen, as he looked at the drone live report with a brows furrowed in a tense expression.

He was the chief in charge of communications and public relationships at Graycanyon’s guild, Duncan Deanson. “Hmm. It could be a system malfunction—I should contact maintenance and ask when was the last time they ran a status check. Still… just to be sure, can I have your support in the area for the rest of the day?" The specialist asked in a more relaxed fashion, but still wary of the situation.

It could have been a mistake, but the protocols demanded a thorough investigation, and the protection of the civilians first and foremost. “I got’chu baby girl. I just happened to have two of my recruits on location.” A cheeky voice joined the call at the same time as a new picture.

This time it was a man with long and silky blonde hair, with his head turned to the side as he tried to act cool. His face was immaculate, not a sign of a scar or even a past pimple, his eyes were brown, and an expensive earring with intricate design could be seen on his right ear.

Casanova’s guild master, Lucio Cormante, an attractive man with an ego of a thousand. Who else would name their guild ‘Casanova’ if not him? “Okay… Thank you for your cooperation, sir.” The specialist answered coldly, trying to suppress her annoyance. The rest of the call was in awkward silence.

A few minutes passed, but no one else joined. It was to be expected since the situation was so abrupt, but many guilds weren’t that cooperative with the headquarters in the first place, anyway. After waiting a bit more, the specialist spoke again. “I’ll cut the call for now, but the direct line is open. I would appreciate it if you could keep me informed on the situation. The line is strictly for professional use, I remind you.” Everyone knew who that last line was directed at, except of course the man himself.

But at least he knew better than to annoy the specialists too much, thankfully. “Roger.” Duncan was the first to leave, he was a very ‘by the book’ kind of man. “Later!” The cheery Jay followed, probably on his way to laze around for the rest of the day. “See you around, baby girl.” Lastly, the casanova fled.

When the specialist knew she was alone, her fists hit the terminal with enough force to scare her coworkers. “Don’t fucking call me baby girl you fucki-” She started mumbling in anger, boiling inside as exhaustion washed over her. Soon after, she let out a resigned sigh and started to work on contacting maintenance, hoping the situation was indeed just a false alarm.

“And that’s the gist of it, newbies!” On the Southern block, and just around the corner of where Ascalon was, a couple of young members of the Casanova guild were briefed on the situation by their guildmaster.

There was a girl, around twenty years old, a bit short in stature. She was wearing an open pink hoodie, black bike shorts, and a set of mismatched socks; one up to her thigh, completely red, and another that only reached a bit past her ankle, white with blue stripes. Black boots protected her feet from the cold pavement below.

Her white face was half hidden by the hood, but some of her long red hair could be seen, along with her noticeable yellow eyes that seemed to glow a bit. She seemed tense, probably the fault of the siren.

At her side stood a taller man who looked a bit older than her, also wearing a hoodie but of a soft blue color, and a pair of baggy pants of a darker hue. He wore a pair of blue sneakers that looked comfortable and fashionable. His face was kind of pale, his short hair black as the night, and his eyes were of a deep, green color.

His handsomeness was a bit sullied by an annoyed expression, as he answered his guildmaster with a tired tone of voice. “Yes, sir, we’re on it.” He replied as the call was cut, and rolled his eyes.

The girl giggled and eased up a bit, before hitting his companion gently on the shoulder.‎ “All right, our first assignment! Although I would’ve liked something more chill, you know?” Her lips curled up into a grin, and a pair of fangs greeted the light.

“Hah~ could’ve done without the kaiju alert, yeah. Luckily it does seem like a false alarm…” The guy replied, eyes half closed and shoulders slumped.

“Let’s go, Lil. Hope we don’t die or something.” He told her as he started walking sluggishly, in a laid-back manner. If there were really a kaiju rampaging around, there was absolutely nothing they could do anyway—except for running, of course, and even that had it's dangers.

“Aight, Selly!” Answered the girl in an energetic manner, rising her arms high in a pumped-up fashion before following after him.

Soon, destiny would do its thing. A fateful meeting would take place; two different worlds would collide and transcend time—a knight, an unusual noble and a young maiden, intertwined in an uncertain future.