The Betrayal of the Guardians

~ (4) Aurora City ~

Arisa hopped off the horseless carriage, carefully holding her bag. She quickly examined the small metallic carriage, in search of the little box where she placed her spell card.

She didn't take long to find it, as the rune on the card was still glowing, producing a dim orange glow. She cautiously removed the card, stopping the written character from glowing.

As she walked, she examined the rune she drew. 

Eleven strokes formed the rune. Part of the character resembled a pine tree, with two parallel strokes crossing the top part of it. Two vertical strokes, one long and the other short, completed the tree. On the right side, close to the tree looking character, were two circular characters that completed the spell. These patterns made this particular rune a challenge to draw.

Arisa's skill for drawing complicated runes resided in a subpar territory. However, according to literature, this transportation rune had an average difficulty. She was happy she could draw a semi-complicated rune.

Bump.

"Sorry." She slowly glanced at the person whom she accidentally bumped.

Her heart raced as her gaze fell on a figure more than two meters tall. He wore black robes and a heavy-looking, white mask with three black holes placed randomly. They hid his identity well.

"I'm really sorry," she repeated with a deep bow.

She stayed in that position for almost a minute, nervously waiting for her fate.

"You're lucky that today I'm in a good mood, Celestian," said a manly voice behind the mask. "You have to watch where you go unless you have a death wish."

Arisa remained quiet and still. He left her standing there quietly. As soon as he left, she raised her back. As she released the breath that she didn't know she was holding, she noticed worried stares from her people.

"Are you okay?" asked a man of an advanced age, gazing at her with concern.

Arisa replied with a nod, an awkward smile spreading across her face.

"You have to be careful," he said slowly. "Even though they've been calm these past three years, you never know what an Eterian will do."

"Yes...I was distracted," she admitted. "Sorry for worrying you."

The man smiled. One of the perks of being a Celestian was that even though they were strangers, there was a sense of unity among them.

Resuming her trip home, she scolded herself for walking in the streets of Aurora City so casually. This was Aurora City. Her hometown happened to be the capital city of Celestia. Thanks to that title, the Eterian King's residence was located there, along with most Eterians'.

A city full of Eterians meant a city full of trouble. Despite them having won the war, they deemed Celestians inferiors, using any excuse to kill them or enslave them.

Ever since Arisa was a little girl, she was taught to never irritate or interfere with the Eterians, to always make way for them if she ever crossed a path with them.

She sighed. There was a time when she wondered which was worse, Guardians or Eterians. Based on the recordings written in the history books, it could be concluded that both parties were equally horrid. The Guardians helped Eterians conquer Celestia.

Despite that history, people still believed that there were good Guardians out there.

She still thought that the Guardians were worse than the Eterians that ruled their world. Guardians were assigned to protect the worlds, yet they terrorized the worlds themselves. Eterians, on the other hand, inherited their selfish and violent behavior. It was in their nature and nurtured from the moment they were born.