At the centre of paradise .

Elysium , Neo-Tokyo 

A remnant of Old Japan , a beautiful country that has far vanished from the minds of people . The platform of Elysium goes high into the sky , encircled by the void of the once known Tokyo.

It  was strangely quiet . Barely anyone could be seen in the streets . Usually it is full of people , traders and brawls all with one aim in their mind . RUNES .

 In the distance of the metallic pathways a young boy wearing a cape could be seen . People usually tend to fully cover themselves to avoid any unwanted confrontations . 

As he was roaming around he noticed 2 men hovering over someone else in a corner nearby . Seemed like a very frequent scene . Stealing runes . One wrong move and its game over . The boy tried to ignore them and hastened his pace . He was not ready to lose his rune today as well . 

After some time he appeared to be on his own . The lack of noise creeping him out . The only thing that could be heard was his metallic crack from the road . 

Suddenly the boy stopped abruptly . He threw his gaze on the window of a nearby building while bringing his wrist closer to his mouth revealing a communication device  :

"I am being followed " - as he said that a fiery bullet grazed his skin destroying the device in his hand  . Another one was shot at the boy . He jumped , his cape fluttering in the gust of wind , revealing 2 runes tied to his belt .

" 2 runes huh ? We got a dangerous one over here ! " - the voice of a woman could be heard from an alley near the building . - " Do you mind if I take a look ?"

" Stay back , I will not warn you twice ."

" Really ?"- the woman approached him . She was fairly tall with short red hair, wearing a long d blueish cape that was torn in a lot of places . She revealed a spear from underneath it which was being held by her robotic hand . That seemed like a very expensive augmentation .  

The boy leapt back to create some distance while trying to pinpoint the location of the sniper that hit him . Obviously she was not alone . The boy had to run away as fast as possible . It would be impossible to deal with them . He touched one of the runes in his belt and whispered:

"Illusio Fumi " -  Dark smoke started to rise behind him . Without taking any chances he ran towards the smoke as fast as he could . 

A couple minutes later as he was running , some other bullets came his way . He barely dodged them , thanks to his fast reflexes . The boy eyes were fixated on a small ramen shop in front of him . He was getting close to it .

" Lier , duck " - A girl's voice from the roof of the shop was heard , as he bent his body and slid near an alley . Piercing the air , a small projectile hit one of that lady's underlings , making him fall dead on his tracks .

" Nice shot , Edel " - Lier aim was the small alley near the shop where suddenly a young girl appeared there from thin air . He seemed unfazed from her though . She had a serious look in her face and was holding a gun of sorts . 

  The furious face of that woman could be seen while the lifeless body of her servant fell on the ground . Her team rushed into the alley . Edel was shooting towards them but the woman was deflecting every bullet with her arm . The little girl seemed annoyed .

" She has created a defensive aura around them , I cannot hit her " - She took her gun and reloaded it with a small bottle of blue liquid . Lier seemed nervous .

"Are you sure ?" - He said . She pointed her gun towards the woman . Her poker face was overwritten by a smirk .

" Just watch loser " -  Just as she was about to shoot she touched her rune and disappeared just like that . A small orb was launched that in a split second covered the alley in ice leaving a frosty mist behind.  

" This will slow them down , run now " -  Lier continued forward . He was not familiar with that part of the city .  In the distance he could see the void near the edge . Seemed like that was the only route left . He barely knew any chants to help him move around like Edel . Soon he realised he was cornered as he had nowhere else to go . Upon seeing the anxious face of Lier the woman began to speak :

" So your squad took down one of ours , where is that little rat  ?  She is not here , huh ? Well , I think you will do just fine . Do not worry though I will not kill you . I cannot use your runes if you are dead but I might want to take a limb as a souvenir .  That's only fair , don't you think ?"

Her spear was pointed at him .  He was ready to chant something when he sensed Edel   moving slowly behind them . She pointed the gun towards the woman .

"Its over " - a bullet hit her metallic arm latching a small device on it .

"You think ? " - The woman had noticed her presence aswell but was confident that mere bullets could not even graze her arm . Suddenly from the small device an electric current spread in her body causing an explosion . Her annoying aura was finally off . She fell on one knee ready to faint . As Lier was about to escape , one of her underlings shot him in his shoulder making him lose balance and trip over the edge . 

Shocked and unable to do anything he closed his eyes and was ready to embrace his death . He could barely hear the screams of Edel in the backgroung . To his surprise , he felt his weight being carried by someone  . Thinking it was his friend he closed his eyes in relief .

He woke up very soon . He rubbed his eyes with his other arm and saw a girl . Her brown hair covered her eyepatch the strap of which could be visibly seen . She seemed very familiar . Her gaze shifted towards Lier  :

"Are you feeling well , that was quite scary , right ? "- another girl was healing his wounded shoulder . The boy was befuddled . As reality struck him , he jumped back pushing the healer away  :

" Who are you ? " 

The girl unfazed by him , answered with a smile : 

" Oh me ? Sorry I forgot to introduce myself . Hello friend , I'm Arne  ! "