Chapter 1: Secrets

This story begins in the city Traquo. It was a city of technology and trade among other cities, towns, and villages. It welcomed all people as long as they did not bring harm or fright among the others. It was definitely a peaceful city for the most. Residents were spread widely across the city, making it a beautiful city indeed. Grass, trees, and flowers could be seen on the walks and outside as well. There was a mountain to the west side of the city, where people hiked to view the whole city from above. Of course there were also the slums, which were where the poorer people resided. It wasn't too bad, besides the common scrap rogues that would some times wander the night. If they were caught they would be thrown out of the city, of course.

As a mid-Spring day snuck through the night, there was a slight earthquake. People rushed from their homes to see what was happening. The mayor, Mayor Howe, woke up as well and walked outside to calm the people. Mayor Howe was a middle-aged man who was slightly crippled, so he had to walk with his back slightly curved over. He had a daughter as well, whose name was Sarralyn. She was a curious girl of the age of 16, whose blonde hair shined like an angel and whose blue eyes sparkled with creativity. Sarralyn was friendly in many ways. She would pick a friendly conversation over a fight any day. Wars meant nothing to Mayor Howe and Sarralyn.

There appeared to be a cave entrance that broke open during this earthquake, and the city residents questioned to what was inside it. Mayor Howe explained to them that it was time for sleep and not to explore. He said that he would set up a group of men to search the cave in the next day.

Deep inside the cave, while the citizens were grouped up in confusion, was a large chamber that had opened up. There was a platform in the middle surrounded by raging fire and lava, and a big red crystal stationed in the center. The earth began to shake again, and cracks formed on the crystal. Another quake shattered the top, and a youth emerged from the crystal. This youth fell to his knees and looked around. His hair and was white and his skin was pale, and he was soaked with liquids from inside the crystal. His senses were weak and unused, powerless to him.

Once the quakes stopped, out came two construction workers of the city. They were Luke and Dirk. The two men met in front of each other's house and agreed to go up to the new cave and search it until morning arrived. Equipped with their mining and tunnel gear, they departed from their homes and started for the mountain from which the earthquakes originated.

"So you really do think there's something in there, Dirk?" Luke asked.

"A'yup, could be monsters, or machines, or madmen, or both." Dirk said, "But if it's anything that'll threaten our city then we'll have to stop it."

"I hope there's nothing too strong then. We've got a lot to do tomorrow." Luke said.

It was dark inside, but with the help of their flashlights they could find their way around. The tunnel was barren, nothing else had made its way in before them. As they made it in further through the tunnel it became hotter and hotter, and they were forced to put on lighter gear and fire protection items. Deep inside was a strange, different room. It was tiled on the floor, statues of fire monsters and the great fire demon, Ifrite. The statue of Ifrite was standing over a glass case that contained a long sword inside, which had a green metallic hilt and labeled Masamune.

"Mighty spooky, mighty hot!" Dirk said, "Well look at this sword! Never seen anything like it, you'd think it's ages old."

"Yeah, I bet it is. It could sell for a lot, too, if we could get it for ourselves." Luke said.

Luke looked ahead to the next room and saw a platform surrounded by lava and flames. A youth was lying there in front of a broken crystal. Luke jumped in surprise.

"Hot damn, look over there!" he said, "Get that kid some protection from this heat before he burns! We need to get him out of here quick!"

Dirk grabbed the case with the sword and ran to Luke with his bag and took out protection gear for the boy. They covered both and made their escape from the tunnels. This boy was taken to Luke's house and put on a bed to rest. The sword was put into hiding from anyone else. The two decided not to tell the others right off that this boy was found in the caves created from the earthquake.

The next morning as light creeped into the room the boy was resting in and hit his figure, his skin became peach, his eyes turned green, and his hair became a blonde color in a spiky-star form about his head. He had awakened and started to move about his room. Luke and Dirk had no clue of what to do for him, as they were both single, never had kids, and never had any experience with taking care of kids at all. The boy was confused and baffled as to where he was and what was happening, but he did not understand how to speak a word to express himself.

From outside, Sarralyn was snooping around and happened to hear things from inside Luke's house from the room the boy was in and looked into the window. She caught a glimpse of the youth inside the room and watched for a while, and the youth had spotted her as well. At first the boy changed from a confused look to a serious look, crossed his arms and turned away. Sarralyn giggled a bit then opened the window.

"Hey!" she whispered.

The boy slowly turned back around and looked at her with a curious look again.

"…e,eh…?" he mumbled.

"Yeah, you!" Sarralyn said, "Come over here."

He stared at her for a moment, but when Sarralyn reached her hand in to him, he jumped back and stood in a defensive position. After looking over her one last time, he finally stood up straight, tilted his head towards her, and gave her a grin.

"Hey, that's close enough to a friendly smile!" Sarralyn said, smiling, "Say, what's your name anyway? Mine's Sarralyn, how about you?"

The boy once again looked at her confused. He shook his head and shrugged at her.

"Huh? You mean you don't know?" Sarralyn questioned him, "Not even your own name? You can't speak in the common tongue, huh."

Once again the boy shrugged, he looked away this time and sighed.

"Well never mind. I'll think of something to help you with that." Sarralyn told him, "But until then, why don't we get you out of that house? I've never seen you around here before, and I doubt you'd be any harm to anyone. I'll show you around!"

She began to push up the window that was between the two of them and soon after a big tug on both of the boy's arms, they both were standing outside. The boy tried to shield his eyes from the sunlight as he stood up and looked around at the outside world. Sarralyn pulled him away from the house and into the open, but he began to stumble about, not knowing how to walk or run correctly. She looked at the boy and sighed.

"Oh boy… we've got a lot of work to do with you!" she told him, "Definitely need to get you some new clothes, but first we need to give you a name. Going around calling you 'boy' doesn't sound too humane… We'll call you Joel. It means 'follower of God'."

The boy nodded, accepting the name, and the two left the house where they met. Sarralyn took Joel to a clothing store near by. She threw him into the changing room with a pair of purple pants with a red shirt and yellow sleeves. Joel exited the room wearing the clothes, but sighed.

"What is it, Joel?" Sarralyn asked him, "Is there something wrong?"

Joel turned and stepped aside from her, giving some space. He then assumed an aggressive position. His pants stretched and went up to his knees, and his sleeves shrunk back almost to his elbows. The clothes did not quite fit him.

"Aww drats…" Sarralyn said, "Well, I thought they looked nice, didn't you think so?"

Joel stood back up again in a straight posture. He looked at her with a dumbfounded face. That wasn't what he meant, so he shook his head. The store clerk noticed the two of them and walked over. He inspected Joel and saw that the clothes did not fit as well.

"Y'know what, Sarra, those clothes don't fit him, and I bet that's what he's a shakin his head for." The clerk mentioned. Joel nodded, and the clerk added, "I bet I could find something his size. He's a big feller, and I don't think I've ever seen 'em about this city before."

"Well, yes, I know…" Sarralyn said, thinking quick, "He's a friend I met while I was away at Quilkal last fall. He's just here to visit."

"Oh, is tha right?" the clerk said, "Well he sure don't say much, do he?"

"Just shy." Sarralyn told him.

Joel was looking back and forth between the two people, not knowing what to do as Sarralyn was making things up about him for him. The clerk left momentarily and came back with a bag of clothes. He sent Joel in with a red shirt and pants that had white stripes down the sides of them. The other suit the clerk picked out for him included a white shirt, black pants, and a black jacket. The clothes indeed fit Joel, and he felt much better when walking out of the changing room. The clothes were a little baggy, but they were an estimated size for a big person.

"Well, what do you two think?" the clerk asked.

"Umm, I'm no expert on guy's clothing, but I guess that's better than what I tried giving him…" Sarralyn said, looking at him up and down.

Joel nodded to the clerk. Sarralyn paid for the clothing and they left the store.

"Well I'm hungry, what about you? Wanna get some food?" Sarralyn asked Joel, then guessing what Joel was thinking she said, "What's food, you ask? Well, it's what everyone eats! It comes in a wide variety of tasty and nasty items. I know a great place, y'know. Living here as the mayor's daughter has its pluses!"

She tugged on Joel's arm and pulled him in the direction of a restaurant she knew of. They ran into a large crowd of people on the way to the place, and with a sudden clumsy footstep, Joel tripped and slipped out of Sarralyn's reach. She looked back and tried to find her new friend, but it was too late. Joel had been consumed by the crowd and lost.

Sarralyn began searching the local area, but she could not find him anywhere near. As she entered an ally way street in search for Joel, a group of thugs appeared from the shadows of the path. She was surrounded by three of them.

"Well, hello mayor's daughter." Said one of the thugs, "Are we having a nice little waltz around our precious city?"

"Lovely, ain't it?" said the second thug, "Pretty, pretty little girly and her pretty, pretty little city!"

"An I bet she don't gotta worry bout much, das she?" said the third, and the second made a leap towards Sarralyn and began creeping around her.

"Pretty clothes… Pretty jewelry…" said the second, "Money, money, money!"

"Hey guys, look. Leave me alone and my father won't press charges, I'm sure!" Sarralyn told them. When the first thug drew a knife and the third drew a gun, she added, "Boys, weapons aren't allowed in this city, and you know it!"

"But missy, we've gots ta protect ourselves from monsters, don't we?" the first said, "Big flesh eating monsters, little pick pocketing scoundrels, everything that poses a threat to us! Killing monsters makes us money, it helps us make a living!" He approached Sarralyn and pointed the knife up and over her as to strike, "Now let's get us some of your cash before things get messy."

"Ahh! You wouldn't!" Sarralyn shrieked, trying to cover herself with her arms, then cried, "Someone, help! Daddy? Where are you? Joel?"

"Time's up, missy!" roared the first thug, "Say good bye! How I've longed for this moment, you upper class wench!"

He brought his hand down with his knife, coming to strike her, but his arm was stopped before he could harm Sarralyn. Joel appeared in front of the thug and caught his arm. He shook his head at the thug, looked back at the other two thugs, then looked back at the first.

"What the… spiky haired freak, why you…" the thug growled.

"I wouldn't call myself a freak, friend." Joel told him.

Sarralyn slowly dropped her guard and saw Joel there.

"Joel? You can talk?" she questioned.

"Well well, I think someone deserves to be taught a lesson of respect." Joel said.

"Yous dare interfere with our makin a living?", the thug said, struggling to break his arm free from Joel's grasp.

"I don't think so. But when you harass a friend, it gets personal." Joel said.

He looked at the thug sharply in the eye. His eyes flashed red for a moment, then dimmed back to green. The thug gasped, then tried hitting Joel with his other arm, but Joel released his other arm and ducked out of the way and returned an uppercut to the thug's gut. He pushed the thug back and kicked him to the ground.

"Don't say I didn't warn you guys." Joel said, looking back at the other two thugs.

The thug staggered to his feet, he was almost curled up in a ball holding his chest.

"C'mon!" he cried, "Don't just stand there, shoot the guy!"

The third thug gave a startled jump, then nodded and aimed at Joel.

"What? Shoot me?" Joel questioned.

He looked back and the thug began shooting the gun's round at him. Several bullets missed and hit on the ground near Joel's feet, but one of them hit Joel above his knee. Joel cried in pain, dropping to his knees, holding his wound as it bled.

"Aah, agh… N,no, it's not over…!" Joel growled.

He gritted his teeth and pushed heavily on the bullet wound on his leg, then stood up and staggered. He showed them his hands, covered with blood.

"What is this, what's come out of me?" Joel asked, curiously, "What did you do?"

"Joel, you're bleeding! That's blood! You're hurt!" Sarralyn cried, "No…!"

"S,sarralyn? Wha…?" Joel said, looking at her as she cried. He looked at the two thugs who shot at him and said, "I don't know what's going on, or what you've done to me, but I know you're going to pay for it."

He made an amazing dash towards the third thug and gave him a good drop kick to knock him out. Then he quickly turned to the second thug and punched his face, and grabbed him by the arms and threw him into the wall behind the first thug. Joel picked up the third thug by the collar and walked over to the first thug, who was watching and still trying to recover.

"I think this belongs to you." Joel said, dropping the third thug into the first thug's arms. He once again looked the thug sharply in the eyes and said, "Now you guys should take my advice. Run for your lives and hope you don't get caught again."

Joel pointed to the exit, and the two thugs ran, carrying the other thug with them. He looked around and sat down, pulling up the pant leg where the wound was. He massaged the wound and the bullet popped out, and he breathed and relaxed. Sarralyn ran out from cover and next to Joel's leg. Joel leaned back and watched the sun begin to set.

"Hmm, pretty colors in the sky." He said.

"Oh my god… Joel, what were you thinking?" Sarralyn said, "Don't you know what danger is when you see it? Here, let me get you something to help you heal…"

"Danger? Sure." Joel said, "I owed you, though."

"Owed me nothing!" Sarralyn said, beginning to wrap Joel's leg in a band of cloth.

Before she could cover the wound, she saw it disappear. His leg looked as if nothing had touched it.

"What, hey! Where'd it go?" she said, "Your wound just vanished. Hey, who are you? What are you?"

"Umm…" Joel began to think, "I dunno, I'm human like you are? Sarra, listen. I don't know how the wound disappeared either."

"Oh really? Well where did you learn how to fight like that? And why weren't you talking when I met you?" Sarralyn asked.

"Well," said Joel, standing up, "I'd only just learn how to talk when I lost you. As for the fight, that's the only other thing I know how to do. You taught me everything else so far."

"So you don't have any memories from before today?" asked Sarralyn. Joel shook his head, and she said, "Well, I guess I should thank you. I don't know what would happen inside the town if I had died. So hey, why don't we go make some memories for you right now? Let's get to that restaurant, I'm still starving!"

"Sounds like fun." Joel said, nodding, "I'd like to try this food you've been talking about."

As Sarralyn took Joel to one of her favorite fancy restaurants, the two continued to converse and got to know each other. They were seated at a booth and given menus. Joel picked it up sideways and looked at all the pictures, but could not understand the food listings. He picked a random picture off the menu and said he wanted it, and ended up ordering a plate of spaghetti and sauce. While the two of them waited for their food to be served, Sarralyn asked Joel again.

"So, how did you know I was in trouble anyway?" she asked him.

"Well, I was wandering around trying to find you the whole time." He said, "I studied the crowd enough to be able to understand and speak your language, and I wanted to find you again quickly so I could show you what new tricks I could do. Really, I didn't mean to scare you. I wasn't really sure what I was doing, myself. It was all just a natural reaction to me when I saw you in trouble."

"Natural?" she said, "Wow, just wait until my dad meets you! He'll be so impressed!"

The waiter brought in their food and set each plate in front of them. When Joel saw his food covered in thin red sauce, he cried, "Aaah! Murder! Who killed someone and put their blood on my food?"

"Oh no!" Sarralyn jumped before her hamburger, "Wait, no! That isn't blood!"

Joel stopped and looked at her curiously, "What? It's not? What is it then?"

"It's the sauce for the food, silly." She told him, "Eat it, it's not poison!"

Joel slowly consumed his food, and agreed that the restaurant was a fine place to be. The two departed refreshed and filled, and Sarralyn took Joel home that night to show her father who she had met. She had become so interested in what Joel was that she had almost forgotten about the attack made upon her by the thugs. He was like a fighting machine, but for what? She thought her father might know. Joel had told her that he could not remember anything, and his style of fighting was the only thing he knew. Through all her travels Sarralyn had never seen such a style. But what she saw was just a reaction from what Joel had told her.

When they arrived at Sarralyn's house, they found Luke and Dirk inside talking with Mayor Howe. The two miners were discussing what they had found inside the mountain the last night with the mayor, and the mayor was yelling at them about following directions. Joel remembered their faces and pulled Sarralyn behind a corner before they were seen.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Sarralyn asked.

"It's those guys, they were keeping me locked up." Joel told her, "I really don't want them to lock me up again."

"Yeah, but…" Sarralyn told Joel, "They're just miners, they won't hurt you."

She came out from the corner and got the miners' and mayor's attention. She greeted them both and pulled Joel out from behind the corner.

"Evening everyone! I'd like to introduce you all to my new friend, Joel!" she said with a smile, "He's the newest addition to our city."

When Luke and Dirk saw Joel, they pointed at him and said, "Look! It's him!"

"It's the boy we found in the mountain, sir!" Luke said.

"What? You were the one who kidnapped him?" Dirk said, "You gave him a name?"

Joel began to stand in a defensive position while they yelled at the two of them.

"Stop it, guys! Quiet down." Sarralyn told them, "You're scaring him!"

"Yes, yes, calm down, everyone." The mayor said, "I think we should all have a seat and discuss this. I'd definitely like to hear this boy's story coming from a mountain."

Sarralyn tugged on Joel's arm, and he loosened up. They each sat down in the mayor's living room. Everything in the house was gleaming in Joel's eyes. He was trying to figure out what they were and if they'd pose a threat to him at all.

"Well young man," Mayor Howe started, "Tell us about yourself."

Joel snapped to attention and looked at the mayor.

"Oh, well… I, umm." Joel said. He rolled his eyes and then said, "Well, I don't know what you guys mean by mountains and volcanoes. You 'found' me there? The first things I remember were waking up in that enclosed room. I guess I was lucky that Sarralyn found me and helped me out."

"Yes, yes, go on." the mayor said.

"Sorry, I don't have much to say." Joel told them.

"He told me that all he knows how to do is fight, daddy." Sarralyn jumped in, "Nothin else. You should have seen him in action when a bunch of thugs attacked me!"

Mayor Howe thought for a while, then looked up.

"I heard about that." He said, "I've also heard about other people from other regions with the same situation on their hands, like Joel. Nasty, brutal fighting and killing beasts is what I've been told." He watched Joel as he looked around the room in curiosity again and said, "Except Joel seems to have the intelligence of a Kindergartner."

Joel looked at Sarralyn and said, "What's that supposed to mean? What's he saying?"

"I was wrong…" the mayor said, covering his face, "Even less than that, it seems. If he's really like the other people I've heard of, then I don't know how he can be much of a harm to our city at this stage."

"That's true." Dirk agreed, "Maybe if we teach him how to live like us, he could even help out around the city!"

"Correct." The mayor said, "We could maybe tame his killer instincts before he matures and activates them."

Joel looked back and forth between the three men as they talked about him, and once again leaned over to Sarralyn and asked, "What are they talking about now? Is there something wrong? Do they not like me here?"

"No, they're saying that you're safe to live around here." She told him, "But they want to teach you good manners and don't want you going around punching everyone."

Joel sat back straight and said, "Well that's fine. I don't know why I'd ever want to hurt someone here. Everyone seems polite so far, except for that band of thugs earlier today."

The mayor turned and looked at Joel and said, "Now Joel, there's a rule everyone has to follow in this city. That's no weapons, no violence. But we're going to make a special exception for your case just today because it was for a good cause. In others, you probably would be thrown in jail along with the rest of the junkies."

"Wow, that's rough." Joel said, "But I understand. I'll try not to fight unless I really have to."

"Good, good." The mayor said, "Now then, how about we send you to a school to begin with. Starting, oh, tomorrow, we'll send you off with Sarralyn to school so you can learn your reading skills and the facts of life."

"The facts of life?" Joel said, "Like two kicks don't equal a punch?"

"No, no. More like if you get hit, it's not always right to get hit back." The mayor told him, "I mean thing like the geography of the world, and the history of our city, and mathematics and sciences of the world."

"Oh, I get it." Joel said. He looked up and thought for a moment, then said, "I'll get to study about ancient battles of the past, won't I?"

"Yeah, the rest is sorta boring." Sarralyn told him, "But we have to learn about it."

Mayor Howe looked at the clock and saw how late it was.

"Gentlemen, it's late." He said, "We'll continue this conversation tomorrow afternoon. Until then I want you all to rest well and do a good job working tomorrow."

"Yes sir, we shall." Luke said.

"Thanks for the open meeting, sir." Dirk said, "What about the boy, though, sir? Where will he be staying?"

"I think it'd be best Joel stays in our guest room tonight." Mayor Howe told them, "That way Sarra will have an easier time getting to him to take to school."

"Sounds like a plan, sir." Luke said, nodding.

When Luke and Dirk departed Sarralyn and Howe guided Joel up a staircase to where he would stay for the night. The room was much nicer than the one he had originally woken up in and roomier as well. After a hug and a "Thank you" from Sarralyn, Joel was left alone. He sat down on the bed he was given and looked around him momentarily. The bag with the other set of clothing that was bought for him was there next to his bed, which he would wear the next day to journey into the unknown. Perhaps he would learn more about himself then, or would there be something that would endanger his life at this thing called school. But what boggled his mind the most was… what is a hug, and why did Sarralyn do that to him?