Red Roses

Chapter 1 (Introduction Arc)

As the sun sets and the moons begin to rise in a bustling city, Ganymae go about their nights. A certain bakery seems to be having an unfortunate issue however.

A frustrated shout can be heard, "Get back here! Thief!" The baker rushed out the door of her establishment, calling the authorities in an infuriated manner. Meanwhile with an armful of bread and other snatched goods under his arm, a certain thief makes off on foot. He teased, "Why don't you come get me yourself if you want your precious bread so badly?"

As the thief makes a run for it, he snatches a disposable bag from the ground to carry his food in. Despite the fact that it slows him down, he's fully aware it'll take anyone a while to be dispatched to this location. Eventually, getting to a safe place to sit down, he slouches his back against the wall of an alley between two buildings. Looking at his bag, he thinks to himself, "And to the victor? The spoils~" As he dug into his bag, the thief gluttoned himself with bread, baked rolls, and a few other things, saving the rest for another time to eat before they go bad.

The sound of a patrolling officer could be heard from outside the alley, "Damn, already? Tch, guess my math was wrong—" the thief took a moment to think about his options, hiding would lead to his eventual capture, and he couldn't outrun him without the magic they have. He took a look at a pile of bricks in the alley as well as his bag of bread, "Hmm.."

Deciding to confront the officer, he exited the alley he was in and whistled as loud as he could towards the officer, making sure there was enough distance between them. "Hey numbnuts! Looking for something?~" Holding the bag up high with one hand on the handle and the other hand supporting the bottom, a piece of bread was exposed from the top of the bag. The officer became infuriated, running toward the thief. The patrolman let out a shout, "Come here!" Grinning, the thief ran off, taunting the officer with the bag. Unfortunately he couldn't outrun the officer, fortunately outrunning the officer wasn't part of the plan.

Continuing to run and eventually reaching an area with no witnesses, the thief turned to the officer. "You want this bread so badly?! You can have 'em!" Throwing the bag at the officer as they ran, the bag hit the officer blunt in the face, causing a concussion which resulted in the officer going unconscious. The bricks and bread spill out of the bag as he takes a deep breath. "That'll get them off my back for a bit, I should find a place to hide out for the night." Making his way towards the officer to retrieve his bread, he noticed a cap 'n' bells jester hat symbol on the back of the left hand on the officer. "Huh, an apparitionist? No wonder he didn't use magic, not much he could do in this scenario anyway!" Collecting his bread back into the bag, he makes his way peacefully for the night.

As the next day arrives, the thief feels comfortable making his way through the streets of the city. After a hearty meal of stolen bread he notices two of the officers surrounding a ganyma. It was a person that he knew, not friend nor foe however. They had an arachnid-like appearance, including thick yet harmless fangs on the sides of mouth and extra eyes across the forehead. Along with their normal arms, they had somewhat smaller insect legs that stuck out the exposed skin of their crop top. While closing the gap between them without being noticed, he saw them having their hands and spider legs tied behind their back in rope.

Approaching the guards, he tapped the shoulder of one "What's going on? What did the person do?" The guard shoved him away, looking frustrated "petty theft, what's it to you human?" The thief looked at the Ganyma, once they noticed him their eyes widened. They slightly gasped, in a small whisper they mumbled at the thief, "Ardit?" The thief looked at them and nodded, gazing up at the guard with an agitated look "They couldn't survive otherwise, could they?" The second guard raised his voice, "Don't mouth us human! ...Wait-"

Noticing the guard was close to recognizing him, he quickly shoved in between the two officers and pushed the person forward, "Go!" From the sense of urgency, the two thieves ran ahead. As they ran he attempted to untie them. The officers gave chase. Ardit and his accomplice heard the voice of a guard from a near distance, "Stop the human! They're getting away!"

Knowing he couldn't escape without magic, he hurried to untie them. When the rope came loose and it was pulled off, he yelled in a sense of panic, "Hurry, do your thing!" They nodded, putting their right hand on top of their left, touching the stopwatch symbol on their left hand. They started their right hand down to the fingertips of their left, and put their palms together. The symbol on their hand started to glow, the next second they were in a different location, hidden.

They collapsed to the floor, panting. They spoke in a breathless manner, "That took a lot out of me.. you know I have weak magic... stopping time is hard you know!" Ardit rubbed the back of his neck, responding with guilt, "I know, your disability makes magic hard to do, I'm sorry." They sat against the wall, resting their hands on their knees. They were upset, but they still decided to thank him, "Still, you saved me and I was able to stop time for long enough to get the hell out of there, thanks for that." Ardit smiled and sat beside them, cupping his hands together, "No problem, just don't get caught next time alright?" Ardit spoke with more confidence. Clenching his fist, he held it out to them for a fist bump, returning the bump. They gave a shrug while pointing out, "The most I can do is try right?"

After sitting and hiding out behind one of the buildings for a few hours, Ardit looked over at them. He gave a signal, "Coast is probably clear, you gonna head out?" They shook their head and denied the suggestion, "Nah, I'm gonna hide out a bit longer, they're after my head more than yours right now though, you can go." He nodded and stood up. Ardit took a few steps before stopping to ask, "I told you my name a long time ago, but you never told me yours." The sudden statement put them in a bit of a shock. After a moment of silence they smiled and looked to the side, "it's Ares, if you need help then maybe our paths will cross again." Their response was friendlier than he really expected. Yet Ardit nodded while his body faced away from Ares. He made his way out of the area.

As nightfall approaches, Ardit decides to sleep early, exhausted from the events of that day. Finding a safe hiding place behind one of the other buildings where it was very unlikely to be caught, he decided to get some rest. As morning arrives, he notices something as he awakens. He has been blinded! A mysterious force has removed his ability to see, the blinding whiteness overshadows his face as he is unable to see anything.