Images of fire and dead bodies riddling the village, the faint sound of gasping for breath as fire consumed all in its path, burning homes and the bodies of the dead, both in the homes and out. At the doorstep of one of said homes, though face not seen, the body of a young woman who is still alive holding on to life as her back is bleeding from an unknown wound and her hands clench the earth, tears streaming down her face as she gritted her teeth in anger. The shadowy figure of a man standing over the bodies of the dead, looking down at her with cold yellow dragon eyes, the only thing visible is the torn in half body of a priestess, back facing the girl, with blood pooling around the figure.

Rhea flew her eyes open in a startle, instinctively placing a hand over her belt where her daggers were sheathed. She sat at her desk looking out the window with her left hand propping up her jaw before letting out a sigh. She hated dreaming.

Outside, she took notice of Bud sneaking by with something poorly concealed in his arms. Another scrap of 'ancient metal' most likely that he picked up from the junkyard. Trash really, just tossed away objects to practice his magic skills. Rhea wouldn't mind this if the twins hadn't destroyed her workshop area so many times since she took them in.

"Rhea?" speaking of the twins, Lisa carefully entered her room. "Are you busy?"

The young girl straightened her back before eying the elf child. "Just lost in my own thoughts." She smiled. "What is it?"

The young magician girl switched her 'sorry to disturb you' look into a livelier one. "I wanted to ask if you could go to the market for bread? I was thinking on picking up the fruits from the orchard. Trent has been complaining about his branches being full."

Rhea laughed when Lisa placed both hands on her hips during her last remark. "Bread and fruit?" She shot Lisa a cocky smirk that made the younger girl nervously stare at a blank wall. "And I know we still have some cheese around... Those make a pretty good snack if one is to work all day." She rose from her chair, calmly walking towards her target who now played with her hands for no reason. "Did I see Bud arrive from the junkyard?" She enjoyed watching Lisa's guilty look. "Do you evil twins plan on destroying my workshop again with your hocus pocus magic?"

Lisa shook her head and hands in defense. "No! Not at all! We do want to try some new spells." She tried to be careful with her next choice of words. "Nothing explosive though. Just a few bending spells on raw materials... Don't look at me like that, it's true!"

In response, Rhea placed both hands on the hips. "Fine. I believe you. I'll go get the bread. Oh..." She stared at Lisa again before going down the stairs. "Do sprinkle some water into Trent's roots, will you? He has been a bit moody lately."

Lisa shrugged her shoulders. "I know. It's even more annoying 'cause he complains in that philosophical tone of his."

Rhea let out a genuine laughter as she went down the stairs and left the house. The sun hurt her eyes. They've had a clear sky for the last few weeks, but the heat was becoming unbearable. She saw Bud trying to walk past her from behind hopping she wouldn't notice him. He should have known better by now. The young mage ended up running towards the workshop with a good kick in his butt. Not strong enough to actually hurt him, but enough to send the message.

X

"15 lucre for this much bread?" Rhea made sure those who passed by could hear her. "I should have gotten my fortune told to warn me I was going to get mugged. It would still cost cheaper than this!"

The merchant laughed in a nervous way. "D-did I say 15 lucre?!" He eyed the potential costumers around. "How silly of me! It's only 10 lucre of course! And you get an extra 3 loafs with that purchase! Ahah! Come again, will you?"

The warrior smiled at the hint of annoyance in those last words. Perhaps she could have handled the situation more quietly, but then again, she never did learn to bite her tongue and avoid meaningless discussions. No wonder Niccolo paid her well for her road thieves services – just to keep her nose out of his business.

Rhea titled her head up to the sky with a slight frown as she walked the streets of Domina back home. No signs of smoke coming from her house, nor had she heard an explosion so far. Maybe she really could trust the twins this time. Rachel's bar caught her attention as she passed by while lingering in her thoughts. Could the twins behave for another 15 minutes? She could really use a beer and just relax. She needed to trust them, right? This would be nothing more than a test to their word.

And Rachel's bar had been a very good decision indeed. It was practically empty at that time of day so Rhea could enjoy her beer peacefully. Rachel had tried to make small talk with her, to wine about her 'problems', but Rhea made sure she understood she wasn't in the mood to hear her.

She was halfway done with her beer when disturbing thoughts began lingering in her mind. She desperately wanted to shake the images away, but they hung on like a popo bug to a Sprouting. It was Rubens and his death at the hands of the core hunter Sandra. The mere thought of the name caused her hands to close into a tight fist. A week had gone by and it still felt like yesterday she was in Gato to watch the Jumi die right in front of her. The scene replayed over and over again in her head and she thought of so many ways she could have saved him... but she didn't.

"Silence! Do not interrupt!"

The sudden yell brought her back to reality. Her eyes quickly locked a tall man wearing a sand-colored cloak. His shout was directed towards a young couple sitting in a corner of the bar, but they really weren't the targets of his anger. To her surprise, Rachel was the one he seemed to be mad at.

"Speak up!" He threatened her. "Don't make me angry..."

Rhea had to laugh to herself. Oh, so he wasn't angry right now? Poor Rachel was so frightened she could neither move nor speak.

"What are you hiding?!" The man raised his voice once again, only this time, he rested a hand on his long-sheathed sword.

That was all Rhea needed. Skillfully, she kicked a chair towards him which he managed to block with his own leg. By the time he looked up, Rhea was already running towards him with daggers in hands. Her right foot took the chair she'd tossed and used it as a momentum to strike him. Only, she never noticed the man had unsheathed his sword and managed to block her attack. Such a shame, she was right above him and at such a close distance.

The young man pulled her back with great strength and as soon as her feet touched the wooden floor, she ran half a circle around him and went in for another strike. A strike landed; however, it was the sound of his sword knocking her right dagger across the bar. This made Rhea's eyes widen in surprise but she retaliated fast.

Silence.

The warrior let out a sweat. How could she not? She could practically taste the blade's steel just inches away from decapitating her head. It had been such a long time since she felt this close to death.

As for the other warrior... He wasn't in a better position either. Rhea's left hand held a dagger that was just a second away from piercing his neck. One false move and one, or even both of them, would be dead.

"Who are you?" He finally broke the silence.

Rhea felt better at the hint of nervousness present in his voice. "A friend of hers." Her eyes led the way to Rachel. She wouldn't dare to move her head. "My turn. What are you doing here yelling at people?"

The man was surprised at first, but then his expression changed to one that seemed he had just realized something. "Attitude problem... A friend is missing."

"Care to elaborate?" Rhea was quick to ask.

The man sighed. "Could we... you know?"

The two warriors locked eyes with one another, testing their true intentions. Ever so slowly, both their weapons and their bodies moved away from each other. Rhea felt Rachel take cover behind her but she didn't look. The man lowered his sword and Rhea noticed he didn't sheath; she could understand this decision.

"Like I said," He began. "I'm looking for a friend. She wears a white dress and has long hair. She's like a sister to me..." He seemed to be lost in a thought for a moment but quickly ignored it. "I am worried."

"A friend... in a white dress?" Rhea gave it some thought. "You lost your bride or something?"

"I didn't lose her!" He dismissed such an idea with his arm. "She just disappeared from my side... and she's not my bride! I'm supposed to protect her."

Rhea shooed him with a hand. "Fine, fine. Rachel, did you see anything that might help him?"

The fairy-like girl eyed her with concern. Suddenly all attention fell on her. She knew she had to answer, even if Rhea's frown intimidated her, it was nothing compared to the man's demonic stare.

"I-I..." Her voice failed. The man was about to approach and yell at her again, luckily for Rachel Rhea was there to glare him to remain exactly where he was. "A girl... wearing a white dress like you said, did come in and ask about stones. I told her... I told her there were some nice stones in the Mekiv Caverns. Pretty and kind of magical stones."

"Really?" Rhea raised an eyebrow at how sure Rachel sounded. "I've never personally went and explored the Mekiv Caverns so..."

"Most of the rocks there are dull. However, there's this rumor..." And they could both feel a sudden aura filled with anger from the man standing not that far away from them. "It's this... um, well... Jade thing..."

"You told Pearl to go to a cave based on a rumor?" He was definitely angry, though Rhea couldn't blame him this time around. "Where is this cave?"

The tone in his voice only caused Rachel to cower behind Rhea. She let out a sigh feeling helpless. "It's just a few hours away if you know the shortcuts. And a whole day if you don't. How long is she gone?"

The warrior looked away in embarrassment. "Almost two days..."

Rhea thought it be best not to throw salt into the wound and bite her tongue for once. "Then she could definitely have reached the cavern by now. Let's search for her."

She could sense an emotion of shock and surprise coming from Rachel and the young man. Rachel pulled on her purple skirt to try and get her to turn, but Rhea dismissed her.

"Together, with me...?" The man firmly shook his head. "But you mustn't..."

"Do you want to get there in three hours or risk leaving her in those caverns for another day?" Rhea cut him off. Sounding very serious. "I've never explored them, but I know how to get there fast. Trust me, I'm the only one in this town that can guide you there safely."

The man seemed oddly nervous, something that intrigued Rhea. "It's just that... No. I would be grateful!" He approached them, which made Rachel back away. He ignored the blue haired girl for now and focused his attention on the young two-bladed warrior in front of him. He reached out a hand. "I'm Elazul."

Rhea hesitated for a while but also shook his hand. "Rhea. And I swear I don't always point a blade at people's neck before meeting them."

Elazul actually smiled at the remark. "Neither do I. When can we leave?"

"Right now." She walked back to her table where she grabbed and tossed the bag full of bread for Rachel to catch. "Take it to the twins. And tell them where I'm going." It wasn't a request and Rachel knew it. Rhea then bitterly walked over where her other dagger had been tossed. She picked it up feeling deeply embarrassed by this.

The young Knight held the door open for her. "Lead the way."

Rhea eyed Rachel one last time to make sure she understood her task. The fairy-like girl simply nodded in response. "Try to keep up." She said as the two left the bar and Domina.

A/N: The Mekiv event was supposed to be here as well, but trust me, that one is a chapter on its own! I just couldn't stop writing!

Anyway, so clearly some events already took place before Elazul even showed up in Domina. Such as Niccolo's business unusual part 1 and 2; the little sorcerers, the mana orchards and the flame of hope will take a special place for now. You'll find out about which other events took place so far in the next chapters! Just to keep you guys guessing eheh

Moving on to what's important. As you may see from the fic's summary, this will be a HeroinexElazul kind of fic. I plan on giving the heroine, Rhea as I've named her, a mysterious dark past – and I hope I don't turn her into a Mary-sue... yuck! - and despite some battles and character development between Rhea and others, this will be written and developed towards her and Elazul. You've been warned!

As for the rest of the Legend of Mana characters, I want to stay as true as possible to their in-game personalities. I think I will struggle a bit with Rachel... I just can't figure her out really.

That's all! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and if you have anything to say just leave a comment :)