Many years ago a great war took place within the land of Foldlin, this war was between the vermilion and scarlet kingdoms. While each had armies built to withstand anything, their conflict with each other seemed to never end. The people of both lands began to be fed up with the fighting and some even took it into their own hands. A group of mercenaries came together and defeated both kingdoms at once and brought peace to the land once more. They were led by a man by the name of Felix Blight and this man became a legend all throughout the land. A holiday was formed in honor of the group's achievement and on that day they take a break from protecting the land in order to connect with the land they protect on the daily. That is where our story begins. 

Felix approaches a local village one that he has grown quite fond of over the years. The usually quiet and small town has been taken over by hundreds of people and decorations. A banner has been hung over the town that says “liberation festival”. As he enters the town plaza he sees children playing in the street recreating their favorite battle from that fateful day. Before he can enter the tavern he hears someone call out his name in a tone that he recognizes within an instant. Mika, “What are you doing here? I thought these festivals were “too much” for you” she says it in a mocking tone which fusterates Felix. As she approaches Felix replies in a decisive manner, “That’s still true but I heard this was the village the statue was being erected, with that in mind i had to see for myself”. Mika thinks about commenting on his sudden change in attitude but decides against it, “Well then you wouldn’t mind if I join you, I mean I already planned on going but it might be better if we go together”. Felix thought about it for a second, considering how tough this day will be it would be nice to have someone else by his side. Felix, “Sure but we have a bit to go before the statue is revealed so I planned to wait at the bar.” Mika responded “Smart, a drink will help ease me down after seeing all of these festivities.” she said this in a somewhat chipper mood. 

Entering the bar felt like entering a portal to another world. Compared to the bombastic and overall big energy of outside it was nice and peaceful. Most people were elderly and trying to avoid the children who were all hopped up on sugar while enjoying a cooled pint. However there were two young kids, somewhere in their early twenties, who seemed disappointed about something. This was until the person who appeared to be the leader, A girl clearly who was clearly strong willed, spotted Felix. Her, “Oh my god is that really him” and the boy questioned “What is he, some kind of celebrity”. She responded immediately in a sharp and informative tone “Well he’s in fact the person who stopped the war and who this festival is all about” The boy seemed to be a bit embarrassed at this piece of information. Before Mika or Felix could say anything the girl continued “Could we please interview you on the events of the final battle? All day we have been asking these old timers what happened and they either shrugged us off or gave us useless information. We want to publish a first hand account of the battle for people to look back on in the future.” The boy from earlier chimed in “I’m sorry about her she's a bit abrasive, I’m Silver and she's Pearl, We are amatetur historians and would love to hear all about the battle from your perspective. Pearl went to talk again before Felix put up his hand and said “ First off my friend here who’s name is Mika was also at that battle and she was a part of my crew. Secondly we’ll gladly tell you the story of what happened, in great detail too, however you will not interview me. I want to be able to tell the story without many interruptions and you talk too much and too fast.” Pearl nodded in agreement and the four of them sat at a table. Mika talked first saying “I’m sorry if he was a bit mean today he gets a bit on edge and he too can be abrasive” Felix realized how he came off and apologized before Pearl added “ No your fine honestly I needed that, but might I ask would it be ok to ask some clarifying questions?” This was said in a hopeful tone. Felix, “Of course the story can get a confusing at times so if anything it’s necessary for me to clarify a few things” both Pearl and Silver chimed in a final time to add “Thank you so much for doing this” before Felix could start Mika added “Expect me to fact check him on some details of the story because despite how he acts he doesn't know everything.” The four of them laughed and then Felix started the story.

“First It’s important to describe our crew, there being seven of us in total, those members being Me, my brother, Mika, Jules, Linhart, Mercedes, and Caspar. The seven of us formed an uncontested group and originally wanted to stay out of the war completely. But after over 5 years of devastation forming all across the land we, along with many other third parties, knew we had to stop this war. At the time our group was still newly formed and we didn’t fully get along for countless reasons chief among them being my brother. Although I was always there to support him he was a thief and a well known one at that. My brother regretted that part of his life and deeply wanted to earn the respect of everyone, this task wasn’t easy due to his past. If there was a relic of any importance he could find a way to get it even if it was guarded by armies he would find a way. For that reason he was a core member of the group and was necessary for many of the harder missions. His name was Star but he believed the name didn’t fit him so he changed it to phoenix because he believed no matter what he could rise up to the occasion. But that's enough about him you want to know about the fight that ended it all. When people call it a battle they’re wrong, it was a massacre and my group planned it out. The two armies planned to fight in Golsther right next to some ruins of some long forgotten castle. We had Mercedes and Linhart disguised as messengers deliver notes to the leaders of both armies claiming the other would be there. At the time both sides were at a stand still so this gave them both a chance to end the war early by killing the other commander. Scarlet's commander was large and powerful; some even called him a giant compared to Vermillions commander who was smaller in figure but a strategic genius. Bringing both leaders together wouldn’t be hard but taking out both armies while doing so was set to be a challenge. Like I had previously mentioned, many third parties decided to help stop this war so we had a lot of fire power. Our plan involved using these third parties as bait to draw out both armies. A big part of this plan involved both me and my brother, we were set to sneak into the generals bases and capture them. This however isn’t how it went.”

Pearl decided to butt in and say “So is this where the famous topeling took place?” The way she said it showed her curiosity over the topic. Felix answered “Yes but you're getting ahead of yourself. You see, to even get to the bases we need to fight through a hoard of people from all sides because in the heat of the battle you can’t recognize who’s friend or foe.” Silver chimed in and asked “So even those from the third parties were attacking you? Shouldn’t they have recognized you due to your team leading the charge?”. I thought about it for a second and he made some good points. I concluded “You're not wrong but I personally can’t speak for the actions of those on the battlefield and it’s hard to believe we will really ever know why so all we can know is the facts about what happened.”. Felix took a break to finish his drink and order a round for the table. He continued “I should mention the groups we were in for this mission. Me, Mika, and Mercedes decided to go after Vermillions leader and My brother, Jules, Linheart, and Caspar went after Scarlet's leader. I know this sounds very complicated so we’ll break it down by the two groups.” After this was said Mika looked confused and asked back “What do you mean we?” Felix responded with a smirk and stated “Well you wanted to help tell the story so I’m giving you the chance.” Mika let out a silent sigh and then begrudgingly started talking “Well I only know our half of this story so I’ll pick up where you last left off.” Felix nodded in agreement. 

“We started on our path at dawn's arrival and realized how outclassed the third parties were even early on into the fight. I saw a glint of concern wash over Mr. Storyteller next to me which at the time was rare.” Felix chimed in somewhat humorously saying “I still rarely get scared and in that moment I was mostly surprised at the pure amount of conflict in front of me but you can continue.” This made Mika chuckle a bit. She continued “ Well after you were “surprised” we marched forward trying not to be seen and after a few close swipes at us we were finally at the Vermillions base. It was huge with a big tent in the center. The three of us ran into it and quickly grabbed our target, the axe of ruin, this weapon was what brought power to the commander. We made sure we were seen by him but not chased as to give us a chance to meet up with the other group. We began running to the ancient ruins which lay in the middle of the battlefield, however both me and Mercedes stopped in order to buy time for Feilx. Speaking of which, I think it's time for you to take over.” She passed over her drink to Feilx to signify the passing of the story. He cleared his throat and began “I apologize for her less cinematic approach of storytelling but I will now tell you about my brother's path to the castle. He had a much worse path due to people's general dislike for his past. People from all sides got in his way even people apart from our team. Caspar, who was following him from behind, literally stabbed him in the back before he was quickly stopped by the other on the team. I have asked why he would betray us but I know the answer is always my brother. His past was hard to deny was overall a determinant to both him as a person and us as a team… “ Pearl took the moment to ask a question that had been looming over her. “you wouldn't mind, could you tell me more about your brother?” When asked the question Felix seemed to pause for a moment contemplating what to say. He quickly fixed up his appearance and began “Well my brother was a man of many names, some called him a scoundrel, others called him villain, he preferred “King of the thiefs”, but to me he was always Adam. Adam was always interesting; he never wanted to be a villain but his intentions were often misunderstood in most cases he only wanted to help. When he stole the jewel of Andbar it was to give back to the natives or when he emptied the bank of the church it was to give back to those living in poverty. I supported his goals but the ways he achieved them were unsavory to say the least and the end result often would end with people being harmed which I strongly advised against. I still can’t accept the end he was dealt but… Nevermind I should get back to the story. Like I was saying he was betrayed by Caspar but the rest of the group agreed to stay back in order to take care of him so he could steal the lance of retribution, the signature weapon of the Scarlets general. He quickly met up with me at the ruins and we went into step two of the plan.” Silver flipped to a new page of his notebook and asked “What was plan two?”  Felix had just noticed the notebook and found a sense of comfort with it being there. He then started again “Plan two was talked about between the two of us in case only the two of us were able to make it. This plan involved the ruins themselves. You see the castle was barely being held together and we used it to our advantage. If one of us could distack the generals long enough the other could damage the weakened structural integrity of the building so it could collapse.”

Mika astonishingly shouted “That was planned? How come we were never told about this?” Felix laughed and stated “Well you saw how well it went after we told our first plan with a stab in the back and only two of us getting to the destination. Both me and him were scared of that happening so we figured it would be best if we didn’t tell you guys all of our ideas in case we had backstabbers such as Caspar.” Mika thought about it for a second and then replied “Ok sure but weren’t you scared of you two being crushed?” Without a second's notice Felix shot back stating “Of course but we were willing to do anything in order to stop the senseless slaughter, even die. But on a less somber note we had a second to plan our moves due to the delaying you and the gang had done for us. So once the commanders arrived we enacted our plan and Adam walked over to them so he could get beaten up.” Pearl piped in and asked “I know I haven’t been in a fight before but usually you avoid getting beaten up right?” Felix responded with a smirk “You're not wrong but he actually suggested the idea. You see he had learned to take a hit or two. We needed him to look unable to battle so he could enact plan two. He was always a bit theatrical and knew how to put on a performance and he acted as though he was out cold so the generals would come for me next. With that set up he could work on tearing the place down while I fought off the commanders. Silver interrupted saying “I’m sorry for interruptions but may I ask why did these two sworn enemies decide to fight together to take the two of you down.” Felix realized he had forgotten to clarify things so he happily answered “You two are fine and that is a valid question. The nature of the weapons we stole were heavily debated but what's for certain was the people of both lands had placed a lot of value on these weapons. Only a few people could wield them and to determine the ruler of the land so it’s safe to say if they were to return without the weapon they would be ostracized for it. This is what allowed for the two to team up temporarily in order to gain these weapons once more. Even though I couldn’t wield them in full force I was able to use them to fend off the commanders. Eventually my brother was close to fully dismantling the supporters until the vermillion commander saw what he was doing. The commander began to rush at him with his full force within a split second without thinking I had already thrown my sword to him and Adam caught it. He sliced the legs of the commander at the last second and then finally knocked the support loose. Before I knew it the area around me was enclosed and I felt a deep pain within my back. I look into my surroundings and see my brother died with my broken blade still in hand. I took a second to mourn over death and left a special photo of him on his body. I managed to fully squeeze myself out of the ruble and see a crowd clapping and the sun shining signifying a new day.” In the current day as Felix began to cry he realized the clapping he was hearing wasn’t just in his head. He looked around and noticed the whole bar had gathered around to hear the tale of that fateful day. 

“Well I hope that sufficed” felix barely managed to croak out. Mika looked stunned, Silver and Pearl could barely contain themselves. Pearl, “That was simply amazing, we truly have to thank you for sharing this with us” Silver added “Yes honestly without this information the future could have never known the full truth of what happened that day. But I must ask where are these weapons of legends today?” This question actually left Felix stumped as well. That was until Mika chimed in “The answer to this question lies with the answer to why Felix is here today. The statue. Back a few years ago people began to scout out the old battle grounds looking for traces of the weapons long held sacred to the people. Bit’s and pieces were found and pieces were found and slowly piled up. Today will finally be the day they are shown to the public within the statue of Adam. Speaking of which, I believe it’s about time for it to be revealed.” With this Mika took Felix's hand and quickly dragged him over to the town square just in time for the grand reveal. They both clenched each other's hands but for Felix it wasn’t excitement it was out of fear. As the cloth was pulled off Felix accepted that it was time…

As Felix stared at the statue he wasn’t confronting his brother but the truth he has long since forgotten. The lie he lives haunts him to his core for every step he takes it’s falsely attributed to that of the dead. The truth, the real story, no one knew besides him. The collapsing of the tower all happened so quickly and the sword his brother had given him was still quenched by his hardened hands. In the ruble a pocket was created and that's how he lived and how his brother died. As he looked over to his brother he saw the corpse of a man barely hanging on. He dropped the sword which only put the final dent into the coffin. Right there in front of his eyes lay the body of his brother, a man who died a true hero, he died believing in his brother and all he did in return was seal his fate. At first he wanted to crawl out as fast as he could but he realized two truths of the matter. First if he comes out of the ruble as the only survivor the world would hate him even more. They’d kill him even if they knew what happened if it was a mistake. He was ok with dying but if he died no one could speak of the true hero his brother was. The second realization set him on the path he was on today. After a war that devastated as much as this one did, the people needed a hero. A hero whose plan worked, a hero who single handedly brought down two tyrants, a hero who created a team that could defend the land from anything and that hero was his brother. The decision was made; he had to do it for the people, right? When taking off his brother's clothes he noticed a picture of himself and he set it on the body. He was worried at first, he didn’t think he and his brother looked all that similar but you can get away with minor changes after a building was dropped on you. He almost blew his cover immediately because once he got out people cheered on the name he had taken and he tried to correct them. He quickly corrected himself and after that day he forgot the meaning of the name Adam because he was only Felix and that's all there had ever been.