Sky Crestfall

“Calm down, we mean no harm.” Leo begins, extending an arm and gesturing non-threateningly. His other arm hung loosely at his side.

“If you mean no harm, then answer my question!” She exclaims.

“Check my necklace,” Arte spoke, each word causing the blade to dig slightly deeper.

Releasing her neck, she reached for her chest and grabbed the necklace, taking a moment to look it over.

“How did you—” She began speaking. “Damn it. I never thought you’d come here wearing that necklace.”

She removes her knife from Arte’s throat and sheathes it.

“Come on, you two, into the cabin. Unless you want to get eaten.” She says.

“Nope. I think we should go.” Leo says, while gripping his arm, blood staining his clothes, the holes left in his injured arm.
“Agreed,” Arte said. Her clothes were singed, revealing bits of her skin through them, and her arms were badly burned.

The lighting in the cabin created a warm an inviting atmosphere. Soft carpet lined the floors like fresh snow, and the walls and floors were made of mahogany-colored planks. After entering through the door, they were greeted by the main living space. A sofa made to match the carpet was nestled cozily in front of a fireplace, with two pillows on each side. Sky walked in and immediately threw herself on the sofa. Leo and Arte just watched as she buried her face in a pillow. Leo had only just noticed the pleasant floral scent in the air and took a deep breath. He could feel himself steadily calming down after such an adrenaline-fueled encounter.

Even the pain in his arm had subsided, and his wounds were steadily healing. Arte felt a calm like no other, as though she were the eye of a hurricane. Even if everything around her was chaotic, she was completely serene. Her burns were slowly but surely healing. After having had her fill of lying down, Sky sat up in the chair and faced Leo and Arte.

“Strange things have been happening lately. Irregular natural disasters, monsters suddenly growing in strength, entire towns vanishing overnight.” She states.

“It all points to the return of Malady, the Crystal Witch.”

“Normally, I’d be ecstatic, but there’s just one problem… The hero is supposed to be doing this… Could we be stealing his scenario?” Arte thinks.

“You two know this already, but I’m Sky Crestfall. The necklace must’ve guided you to me. But I’m surprised you both made it here unarmed. This place is certainly not friendly. It’ll be my job to train you two as the next heroes.” Sky explained. “But first, what are your names?”

“I’m Leo Loveless.” He introduced, placing a hand on his chest.

“And I’m Astarte Firia. But just Arte is fine.” She introduced.

“You two have some interesting names,” Sky said while rubbing her chin.

“I just have one question.” Arte begins. She pulls out the pendant. “Is this really the only necklace like this?”

Sky crossed her arms.

“No doubt about that. That necklace came from the gods themselves as a sign of the next hero. Only those fated to be heroes can wear it.”

“O-oh…” Arte said nervously.

“What’s wrong? Too much pressure?” Sky asks teasingly.

Leo places a hand on Arte’s back and gives her a look of reassurance. Arte looks to him before taking a deep breath.

“Not at all, I’ve been waiting for a chance like this my entire life!” She exclaims.

“Great answer.” Sky states. “Now then, before we get started, I’ll need to determine your aptitudes.”

“Ah, that’s right! This is it, the test to determine the class that suits us the best!” Leo thought.

Sky walks out, grabs a deck of playing cards, and places them on the wooden table at the center of the room.

“I could tell at a glance that the two of you weren’t much stronger than normal townfolk. But the way you two moved against that insanicorn, you’re not your average novices.”

Arte chuckled awkwardly, and Leo looked away while scratching his chin.

“Anyway, how much do you guys know about anima?” She asks.

“We could use a refresher…” Leo began.

“Right.” Arte nodded.

“Anima is the energy that permeates all things. Plants, animals, people, you name it. If it lives, it has anima. If you exhaust all your anima, it tires you out severely, and in some cases, it’s possible to die. Anima is unique from person to person, and is also what allows us to determine what class you can use. Even magic and swordsmanship use it.” She states. “Keeping up so far?”

“It’s possible to do both at the same time, right?” Leo asks.

“It is. But it’s just insanely hard to do. It’s like trying to fight while solving complex math equations. It’s just a big headache.” She explains.

“Oh, so you can’t do it then.” Leo taunted with a grin.

Arte sighed, knowing Sky was his favorite character. But couldn’t help but smirk, knowing Sky’s competitive nature. A fireball appeared in Sky’s hand, while her knife began to glow with golden energy.

“Who said I couldn’t?” She questioned.

“Leo has always been drawn to characters like her.” She thought.

“Now, do you two have classes?” She asks.

“Uh… We’re not sure.” Leo looks to Arte.

“We never really had the chance to get appraised…” Arte adds.

“People normally will get their class appraised during their youth and decide if they’re gonna commit to using a combat-focused class or not. There are rare cases like the two of you where they start late. That’d be a problem if you didn’t have someone like me to train you two.” She gloated. “But in all seriousness, once we’ve appraised your class, you’ll no longer be novices. It's the same as getting a class change.”

“Sounds good to me,” Arte states.

“Alright, enough stalling. I’m more interested to see what you both are gonna be.” She admitted. “We’ll start with you, Leo.”

“Let’s do this.” He says.

“All you need to do is pick a card.” She explained, spreading the cards face up on the table.

He grabs a card from the center, a king of clubs. After returning it to the deck, the deck was shuffled, and the card began to glow before it faded away. Sky spreads the cards across the table face up, revealing there are now two jokers in the deck. Leo is enveloped in a white light that fades into dim sparkles.

“Looks like your class is a thief.” She says.

Leo shoots up from his seat and gets super excited. Arte shoots up with him and gives him a high-five.

“Thief is exactly what I wanted!” He shouts.

“Awesome!” Arte cheered.

“I’ve never seen someone be so happy to be a thief before…” Sky mutters.

“It does have some negative connotations, but it’s what you do with it that counts, right?” He begins. “Plus, thief is a versatile class with speed, recon, combat capability, and even more!”

“You sure know a lot about it…” Sky says.

“I’ve spent tons of time on the wik—” He continues.

Arte grabs his lips.

“W-what he means to say is that he read up a lot about classes through the library. Right, Leo?” She asks.

“Ah… Yeah, yeah… That’s right.” He says.

“Oooookay…. Well, Arte, it’s your turn now.” Sky states.

Sky resets the deck and places it back on the table.

“It’s your turn, Arte.” She points.

“Gotcha.” She says.

Arte chose the 9 of clubs and placed it back into the deck. After the deck was set back down, the card she chose began to glow white before shifting to each card in the deck. Every card began to link together, forming a web after they aligned themselves; then, the cards turned black. Arte is enveloped in a white light that fades into dim sparkles.

“This class is…!” Sky exclaims.