Never

Prologue

"Boss!" Radar screamed as he ran into the temple. Everyone turned around, startled by his shouting. Radar skidded to a stop and bowed down to us all, shaking slightly both from being in The Order's presence and from whatever was scaring him in the first place. "B-Boss! Olivia ma'am, Petra ma'am, Axel sir!" Radar started once more with an alarmed voice, stuttering as he spoke. "A-A destructive forest fire sparked out of nowhere last night according to the townsfolk! I-It was to the South-East of Beacon town! S-Sir Lukas and the citizens of a n-nearby town put it out before too much damage was caused, b-but according to my records, n-numerous citizens of Beacon town were out in the forest last night collecting resources and h-haven't returned!" We all gasped, flabbergasted that both we and Radar had not been informed on the fire during the night it sparked. I narrowed my eyes, immediately knowing what had to be done.

"We'll go scout the area" I said to everyone as I grabbed my diamond sword. "Radar, watch over the town while we're all gone" Radar nodded his head, quivering in his shoes.

"Y-Yes boss!" He replied with a shaky voice.

"Everyone, let's meet up with Lukas by his house and get some information from him" I said to them all. Everyone nodded, pulling out their signature weapons, along with responding in their own matter. I smiled. I pointed forward with my sword, sending the group off.

"B-Be careful!" Radar warned us as we dashed out of the temple. "P-Please come back safe!"

"You saved them?!" We all exclaimed. Lukas raised an eyebrow.

"Did you not want me to?" Lukas asked us with a hint of confusion. I shook my head.

"No no, its fine Lukas, we're glad you saved them" I spoke up as I smiled at the rescued citizens. "We were just informed that they were still lost in the forest" I turned to the group. "Is everyone here?" I asked them to make sure all were found. The citizens looked at each other and nodded their heads, indicating everyone was safe and sound.

"Looks like we were mis-informed..." Olivia said.

"First time Radar has messed that up..." Petra added.

"Maybe you weren't mis-informed" Lukas spoke up. "Maybe there were some other people in the forest at that time, mistaken for Beacon town citizens. And everyone here is assigned to gather resources for the town. There may still be some people out there. If there is, I didn't see them... You may need to check" we all exchanged looks. Everything that came out of Lukas' mouth made sense, even if it meant something horrific had happened... I turned back to the team

"Petra and I will go scout the area once more" I said to them. "Olivia, Axel, take these citizens back to Beacon Town"

"Got it" Axel spoke for them

"Lukas, can you stay here for back-up?" I said as I turned to our architect. Lukas smiled.

"Aye aye captain" Lukas replied with a smirk and salute. I rolled my eyes, but smiled. I watched as Axel and Olivia offered their horses to the injured citizens and started to guide everyone back to the safety of town. I turned to Petra.

"Let's get going" With a last good luck from Lukas, I got up on my horse and took off, with Petra close behind on her own. We rushed through the thick forest, trees now charred with soot and charcoal, burnt, crusted leaves crumbling under our horse's feet, the air filled with ash. It was a disaster... We both coughed a bit as we whizzed our heads around on the lookout for any other citizens.

"I can't see anyone!" Petra exclaimed.

"Me neither!" I replied. "All I can see is burnt up foliage... It's too thick to see anything in this wreck!"

"It's clear by the river!" Petra shouted. "Let's stop there for a moment!" I nodded and started to lead my horse along with Petra's down by the river. The gushing of the flowing river was easily heard and located by our horses. We slowed by the riverbank as our horses took a quick break and drink. We hopped off of them and scanned the riverbank's shores.

"The other side is burnt as well..." I murmured as I looked across the riverbank. As it were, both the east and west sides of the river had been struck by the fire.

"Looks like there was no safe spot..." Petra spoke, a little uneasy. I shivered myself. It was a horrible thing to think about. Being stuck in a large, destructive stream of fire burning everything in its path, trapping it's victims with cages of flames... And burning alive was a horrid way to go...

Just then, Petra's horse neighed in disgust and spat out the water it had tried to swallow. We both looked down to see a thick, red liquid flowing from the south of the river, contaminating the water.

Blood.

Petra and I fell silent for moment, as if we didn't believe it was there, or hoping it was something else, like juice as stupid as that sounds, but it was no doubt the red stain of death itself. Without even speaking to each other, we took off south, leaving our horses behind to follow the trail of the dark blood. No doubt someone was injured, possibly lost and hanging on to the last thread of their life...

"I see someone!" Petra exclaimed as she bolted ahead of me. She winced to try and indicate on who it was. "It's... It's..." Suddenly, she gasped. "... N-No way..."

"What is it?!" I asked her. Petra only slowed to a jog, then stopped in her tracks as she approached the injured citizen, but there wasn't one person; there were two injured and unconscious people right by the riverbank. As I finally caught up to my warrior friend, I gasped loudly, not just from the casualties injuries, but the casualties themselves; The glasses and purple suit, the other with the iconic, cyan blue hair and red and black dress...

"I-It can't be!"

But it was;

Hadrian and Mevia