Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ The Guardian Chronicles: Book 1 ❯ The Beginning of the End ( Chapter 1 )

It was wonderfully warm evening in the Caribbean. In the town not too far away, a carnival had just begun. Perfect night for it. But at a secluded beach house, one figure that cared very little for such things set her flute in her lap and looked out over the sea. The night turned the water the same storm blue as her eyes. She sighed. Nights like this remind her of home. She wasn't not sure why. After all, her home is light years from here. She lifted her flute again and began to play. Inside the beach house, five figures went about their lives.

"Hurry up, Jean!" Angela called, "The carnival's started already! We're all waitin' on ya."

"I'm coming!" Jean yelled back.

Remy leaned over the counter that was between the kitchen and the main room to talk to the young man cleaning dishes. "Sure you don't want to come with us, mon ami?"

"Yeah. Carnivals aren't really my thing." Warren answered without looking up.

Jean, fastening an earring as she walked out of the room she and her husband Scott share, said, "Oh, it'll be fun. How about you Starfire?"

Starfire, from the balcony, "No. Too many people."

"Suit yourselves. See you both when we get back, then." Scott said as he turned to walk out.

The two couples left. Warren finished the dishes and began some of the other chores, trying unsuccessfully to ignore the woman seated on the edge of the balcony. He finally gave up and walked out onto the balcony, leaning over and pretending to be interested in the beach below. Truth be told, the only thing about this whole trip that interested him was the woman seated next to him. She finished her song and set the flute in her lap again.

"That's beautiful. I don't think I've ever heard it before. What's it called?" Warren asked.

"Moonlight Densetsu." As always, her answer is blunt, to the point. He wondered sometimes if she had any emotions at all.

Silence.

Warren tried again. "Nice night."

"Mmm-hmm."

Silence again.

One last time. "You...wanna go for a walk or something?"

Silence yet again. Warren turned to go back inside, and much to his surprise, she answered, "Sure. Not much else to do."

She set her flute inside and leapt gracefully off the balcony to the beach 50 some odd feet below, and landed without a sound. He shook his head, spread his wings, and glided down after her. How she does that he'd never know.

After walking in silence for the better part of ten minutes, he finally got up the courage to ask some things that had been tugging at his mind.

"Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer."

"Sure." But she didn't really sound like she wanted to.

"How old are you? Really."

She hesitated. "Older than you. Years don't mean much anymore."

There was an uneasy silence.

"What's your name?"

"I've told you."

"You've told us what you're called. That's not your name."

"Isn't it?"

"No." He pauses. "Sorry. It's probably none of my-"

"Zhane."

He stopped, startled. "Pardon?"

"My name. It's Zhane."

They continue. Her sudden answer left him speechless. The silence was almost unbearable. He glanced at her, a million unasked questions racing through his mind. She's ancient; hundreds, perhaps thousands of years old. But you wouldn't know it. One would guess she was 18, maybe 20.

She kept her thoughts to herself. She'd built a wall around her heart long ago; she wasn't about to let one foolish boy break it, or her. She sighed inwardly. He made her think about things tonight she hadn't thought about for centuries. 'How old are you?' he'd asked. A harmless enough question for most, but then she wasn't most. She didn't remember. She thought back to her childhood, dim memories of her father and brother, both dead. Murdered? She was pretty sure they hadn't died naturally. She thought about when she'd left. Her first assignment. She'd traveled to the ruling kingdom of the Crystal Millennium, and was adopted by its queen. Those images were clear. Her task had been guardian and trainer to the crown princess as well as her court - Celeste, Dana, Sara, and Corina. She could remember the princess's court, but not the princess. Or the queen, for that matter. As the elder princess, she'd had a court, too - Celia, Narissa, Alexandra, and Corinne. She was thankful when he interrupted her thoughts.

"Zhane..." Warren hesitated and turned to her. He doesn't know how to tell her... "What's wrong!?" Starfire's expression had suddenly gone blank.

"Wrong..." she echoed.

"What?"

"I'm not sure..." Her voice trailed off as she suddenly flew straight up, hovered at about 300 ft. for a few seconds, then took off. Warren flew after her, struggling to keep up. 'For someone who doesn't have wings,' he thought, 'she's pretty damn fast.' He saw the fire before he realized where they were. The Carnival.