Act 1 - Part 1

Each of those orbs go into various items around the globe; the majority of it being weapons of all sorts. Those who are fortunate enough to find a weapon with a Conduct's power inside wields only a single elemental power and a fraction of what Ultimatus can do.

Years upon years of wars rage on. Conducts passing from one hand to another. One such Conduct ends up in a normal medieval town called Malojin. On top of a fireplace of one such home is a sword stand. On that, is a large dagger in its sheath, with magatama shape on the bottom end of the hilt.

Outside, rows of tall buildings on both sides of the street. Living complexes in close proximity to one another with narrow alleyways in between. Many townspeople go about their day. Adult women carry baskets of produce over their arm and go from one spot to the next. Children chase one another across the street as well. It's here where a certain sibling pair calls the place their home.

Throughout the day, the brother Riley, dark brunette, roughly 12 years of age has been doing all sorts of daily errands to help out the townsfolk for the past year. Whether it be getting cats down off of trees (even if he gets scratched in the process); helping the adults carry the heavier bags; helping the men with the repairs; the list goes on and Riley never gets tired of it. In return, the townspeople will reward him with either coins, produce, home-cooked meals or all three. All for the sake of supporting himself and Atina; his younger sister whom he's sworn to always protect.

This day is no different. He goes about those odd jobs as per usual. Next thing he knows, it's three quarters before midnight. He's on his way home until he spots Atina; a 10 year old brownish red bed head; in a long sleeve, white lacy nightgown ahead of him coming in the opposite direction. Around her neck is a special necklace, a memento of their mother's.

The 2 make eye contact and wave at each other.

"What's she doing out this late at night?" is what's going through Riley's head as he stares at her.

Originally, Atina did wait for her brother at home. But because he hasn’t come home at the usual time, she became increasingly worried. So, she went out to search for him. She jogs up to her brother. Suddenly, a scrawny adult male robber in tattered clothes dashes out of an alleyway off to the side. The robber trips Atina over then continues to run into the alleyway across the street. Atina falls onto her stomach . Riley rushes over to his sister and kneels beside her.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Atina lifts herself up using her left arm and places her other hand on the center of her chest. Her fingers are close to the neck then she moves her fingers from side to side. Her eyes widen as she realizes something is missing and looks down at her chest. She glances at that alleyway with her mouth open and shaking.

Riley glares in that direction. No one hurts then steals from his sister on his watch. He sprints off after that robber.

As the scrawny male robber makes a run for it, he glances at the rope necklace he has stolen. The pendant of that accessory is in the shape of a silver shield; spikes poke out from each corner and a fancy-looking "M" right in the center.

The robber intends to pawn the necklace off, despite not knowing how much the necklace is worth. To the eyes of others, it may not seem like the necklace cost much. But to him, any amount counts. He snickers evilly.

"There's no way those brats can catch me."

His thoughts are proven wrong when Riley, fueled by the desire to exact justice, tackles the robber from behind. The man falls on his stomach with Riley on top of him. He elbows Riley in the face. It's a direct hit, but that doesn't deter Riley one bit. Riley starts to punch the man on the cheek every few seconds.

"Give it back!" Riley demands in between punches.

As he's doing that, the man tries to squirm himself free while using his arm to block some of the punches. But Riley does not let up one bit. Several heavy footsteps with pieces of armor clanging approach them from behind. The footsteps belong to a group of Town Guardsmen. One of them goes over and picks up Riley from behind as he tries to kick at the robber. But all he does is hit the air. Another pair of guards, lifts the robber up by the arm and holds him in place.

Prior to their arrival, the guards were out on patrol until Atina stumbles upon them then leads the group to Riley. They take the robber and Riley with them in for questioning on the incident. Turns out, the man was responsible for a string of robberies that happened at night. Numerous reports of the townspeople came in regarding stolen valuables. Whenever the guards close in on him, he would always give them the slip in the alleyway.

In a square, wooden, office-like room, Riley, sits on a chair next to one of the Guards. The Guard Captain sits by the desk, looks at and flips over papyrus papers containing a list of every one of those items; including the necklace.

“Riley, for what you did for your sister, I’ll only let you off the hook this once with only a warning; on the condition you don’t do something so reckless again.”

Riley stays silent as he looks at the paper. That Guard continues.

“You’re free to go.”

Reigning in his recklessness won’t be a problem for Riley. But there’s another matter.
“Can I have that necklace back at the very least?”

The Guard Captain lays the list down on the flat table.

“We have a rule here that stolen items are not to be returned to their owners until approval is given upon further notice.”

“I beg of you, sir. It’ll mean a lot, not only for me, but for my sister most of all.”

“I understand your sentiment, however, I’m afraid we cannot make exceptions for young children either.”

Riley lowers his eyes, trying to find a loophole in that statement but unable to come up with any. He crosses his arms and sits further back in his seat.

“Don’t make this harder on us, Riley.”

Riley doesn’t move from his spot and continues to sit still. The Guard Captain nods at the Guard next to Riley. The Guard nods back, lifts up Riley at the back of his clothes high enough so that his feet dangle off the floor. He thrashes both arms and legs. When the Guard carrying Riley comes to the doorway, Riley puts both hands and feet on each side of the walls connecting to the doorway. It becomes sort of a tug-of-war between the Guard and Riley, still refusing to leave without it. The Captain glances at Riley then down at the necklace on the desk.

“For a little boy to go this far for one trinket…” The Guard Captain lets out a long, rough sigh.

Atina sits on the front porch of their narrow townhouse. One of the Guards was ordered to stand beside her, keeping watch. Atina hasn't moved from that spot for the past few hours, waiting for her brother. Her eyelids start to feel heavy since it's way past her bedtime.

She begins to nod off, closes her eyes and lowers her head until a gentle and familiar voice calls out to her.

“You’re going to catch a cold out here.”

Upon hearing that, she snaps her eyes open and turns her head to the side. Riley stands near the side of the house, with one hand in his pocket, and a Guard, having escorted him home. The 2 guards leave together. Atina looks back and forth between the guards leaving and Riley.

Riley walks closer to her and wraps his arms loosely around her neck. About 6 seconds later, he takes a few steps back. Atina feels something around her neck and looks downward. It’s the necklace she always wears. She grasps the pendant as she looks at Riley.

“Who knew persistence pays off.”

Tears appear in Atina’s eyes as she is overcome with joy. She wraps her hands around him and sobs loudly. Riley slowly strokes the top of her head. "There, there. Everything will be fine."

Those last four words, soon, became his motto.

The rest of their days go by normally; almost as if that incident with the robber never happened. A year later, Riley is on his way home after completing his daily errands with plenty of time to spare so as not to make Atina worried to death about him like last time. Then, a Guard calls out to him.

"Riley, a word please."

Riley goes to have a brief chat with that guard in the front diagonal side of a building.

At their home, Atina sits by the wooden meal table. The incident with the robber hasn't vanished from the corners of her mind. She gets up and about to head out but Riley, having finished with his brief conversation with the guard, enters the house and closes the door.

"Atina, big news."

When he got stopped by the guard, the guards told him they hadn't forgotten the deed he'd done a year ago. They waited until now to reward him with a position as one of them; the "Night Guards." The hours of operation will be after sunset and before sunrise. While the amount of tasks he does for the townsfolk will drastically be reduced, the income he'll get from both jobs will be a bit more than what he usually gets in the past. That's music to his ears.

In Riley's early days with the "Night Guards," he starts off as a rookie. Often ordered to scrub the floors; the toilets; carry sheathed swords and other supplies for the older Guards, including when they're out on patrols. In between his tasks, he would often watch Guards practice sword swings and/or sparring matches using wooden swords in the courtyard at their base.

He couldn’t take his eyes off them; almost as if there were stars in his eyes. One day, when Riley got the chance, he mustered up the courage and asked his superiors to train him in the art of combat. At first, they laughed at his request but decided to humor him anyway with a few conditions. Should he win, he'll be an official "Night Guard" and get to do what they do; no more janitorial work. Should they win, Riley gets double the mundane work. He accepted the deal.

One by one, it's Riley that sweeps the competition by knocking down the older Guards onto their rear in spite of him having no training leading up to it. The Guards can't tell whether he has beginner's luck, a quick learner or he's a combat prodigy. As much as the Guards hate to admit, Riley is the first in history to start off as a rookie and very quick to get that promotion.

From that day on, Riley does as much of the daytime errands he's able from dawn to noon. Atina starts pitching in too. They have lunch together then spend some time with each other for a few more hours until Riley hits the hay as preparation for his second job. He's aware of how much of a worrywart she can be. So, he orders her to go to bed on time then she'll see him by next morning. She takes his word for it. Riley holds up his end of the bargain as well.

******

Another year rolls by and the siblings have gotten the hang of their new lifestyle. It's noon and they sit on opposite sides of the meal table. Each of them has a wooden bowl of carrot soup and eats out of it casually with a wooden spoon. Atina, now 11, pauses her eating then stares at Riley's short sword and dagger leaning up against the wall behind him; both items he's been given after he became an official Night Guard member.

"Brother, can you teach me how to fight?"

"What brought this on?"

"I want to defend myself and I don't want to hold you back."

Riley smiles. "You've never held me back."

"Please."

One look at Atina's begging, puppy-dog eyes and Riley lets out a big exhale sigh.

"Fine."

Riley commissions a woodworker to craft a pair of wooden swords for them that look identical to the Night Guards’. It gets delivered to their doorstep in the early afternoon a week later. Next is choosing a spot where they'll have their training. The town plaza is decently large but many people come and go through there so that will interfere with their practice session. A courtyard at the Guard's base is another option. Problem is that it's not accessible for non-guard people. No other space in town is large enough for their training. So, Riley chose a patch of grass outside the perimeter of their town to do it.

The 2 stand at that spot. He hands her one of the wooden swords then puts a good distance between him and her then holds his sword at the ready but not her. Seconds tick by with nothing happening. Atina is the first to speak.

"What am I supposed to do?"

Riley lowers his sword so that the tip points downward.

"Excellent question. I have never taught anyone how to fight before." One side of Riley's lips curve upwards as he thinks. "I would say, figure out your opponent then react accordingly. Simple as that."

Riley sprints at her and does a thrust attack using the wooden sword. Atina has little time to react as she brings her sword up parallel to the center of her chest. Their wooden swords collide; however the force of the thrust knocks Atina onto her rear on the ground. Also, her back nearly touches the ground before she straightens up.

"How the heck is that 'simple?'"

"My apologies." Riley offers his hand to her, which she takes to stand up. "If it’s so tough, want to end things here?"

Atina brushes part of her hair away from her face. "Far from it."

She swings diagonally upward at Riley's face. He leans his head far back, easily dodging that swing. He straightens his head back up.

"Well, alright then."

He swings his sword back at her.