It had been over a century. A century of violence. The darkest century of humanity. All wars, grievances, hate and prejudice for one another was swept aside in the weeks, months, even the early years that followed the fall of an artifact from the heavens. Any child with a box would feel the urge to open it, it was a mystery that the universe had offered forward. The child that was man felt obligated to open it.
In their foolish error, they unlocked the prison within. The Queen of the demons escaped. Using the technology of the humans that had unlocked her cage int he first place, she further opened the object, she broke apart the bonds, unlocked the cages and opened doorways to the human world.

And so they began to consume it, demons infested the land so quickly that humanity had barely any time to react as the monsters appeared int heir very midst, in military installations, in seats of political powers, populated areas, the very streets of the major cities and in so doing carved a bloody path of murder and terror, of atrocities unseen, or that some wished they had not seen.
Yet even when dead, there was no rest for humanity, for the bodies of the fallen were forced to rise again, as minions for the demonic horde, their very souls were harnessed or consumed. Demons became the ruling class, with prey at every corner of the planet.

But this Dark Century wouldn't hold humanity, this apocalypse would not be their end, in their hubris, the demons overlooked the extent of human capability and ingenuity. They were thinking animals, they were blessed with an extraordinary ability to learn, to adapt and to overcome. The first half century had only been about survival, the strong began to protect the weak, they used every resource and every trick they could think of and as they learned of the demons, they came up with new ones.

But then something more happened. Newer generations of humans were still being born and the first generation of the Dark Century proved to be the first sign of hope. They were strong, stronger than any of their kin, they grew up in an environment and society hellbent on survival of the species and soon displayed their prowess against the demons. Humanity was starting to win in some places.
The magical energy of the demons realm was seeping into the world, changing it, humans were being born with gifts, greater strength, greater senses and soon the power of devils themselves.

Magic, the first Magi were cursed as demons and either cast out or killed. The surviving outcasts eventually found their way to one another and formed their own society at first, parallel to normal humans. But then came a major battle, a vast invading force located a human settlement and bore down on it. The Magi took this opportunity, they reached out with their might and defended the settlement The starting point of the first Holy City. New Haven.

Magi became accepted, their kind given greater respect once it was revealed that all of humanity, not just the Magi, were gaining strength under the influence of the Demons and their gateways. With humanity unifying even further, the first Crusaders were born. The first batch of new young men and women, raised purely for battle, to defeat the demons and protect those still not capable of defending themselves. And then came the first Closer. A device designed to destroy a Hellgate. It wasn't perfect, but a single unit was enough to close a Gate into their hellish prison of the demons and deny them access through that point forever.

Decades rolled by and they fought for control of the territories around New Haven and within the city ruins itself, lives were lost, survivors were saved, Heroes were named and finally, the city became theirs. Walls were raised through magic and steels, buildings were restored, farms and residential areas came to life, Haven became a bustling city filled with human life, free of the terror of demons. But the Crusaders could not stop there.
Once more they prepared new, young soldiers, raised int he finest environment they could create with their new-found talents and powers, with great magic at their command and new technology build around the living energies that now existed within their world, they would now not only claim their stake on one city, but the whole world. A world full of monsters.

================================================== ===

Rosiel had never been the type to get too excited about anything. In spite of her aptitude as a fighter she had a bit of a lazy, messy streak that drove her mother crazy. Her mother was once a fighter herself, however upon being badly injured in combat she finally became more domesticated. The Crusaders approached her with an unusual option though, they presented her with a blonde little baby and simply asked her to raise the child with the ideals of wanting to defeat the demons and protect mankind. In return, they took care of their most important needs, even the odd one or two requests. She never said anything about it, nor did she ever even suggest that Rosiel had ever been adopted. The blonde never knew any better, not even that she wasn't the only one of her kind.

The young Crusader had graduated alongside her long-time friend, Ren, the two practically inseparable from the first day they met. Of course, it had started as a rivalry where Ren always won the fist-fights and in weapon combat Rosiel proved to be the better fighter. Perhaps the defining moment, at least for Rosiel, was when she got up, no matter how many times Ren knocked her down, only to ask for more. It was never because she was arrogant, or because she was spiting Ren, not even simply because she didn't want to lose, it because she was truly enjoying her time with the other girl. She had never once judged the other girl based on her bad temper, it was simply another aspect to her friend that she learned to manage.

Today was a special day though, today she would be leaving home and the safety of the city walls for the world outside. The Crusaders had been making heavy headway into the mainland, wiping out settlements of demons and establishing outposts and resource gathering facilities, trade routes protected by mechs and patrols, which left places overseas, areas where they had yet to extend their foothold.

There would be others she knew there too. Renita's brother, Asher. Blaze Heat, a talented swordfighter and daughter of the legendary Jack Heat. Zack Allen, not a bad guy, but he always seemed a little whimpish physically and quite a few others. Supposedly they would have some more experienced people along for the ride too.

But first thing was first, she needed to find her underwear.. And the rest of her clothing.. Perhaps all of it before she ran off towards the Crusaders Military, a great big grin of excitement plastered all over her face.

"Come on, Ren! We haven't got all day! We've got a very specific schedule to keep!" Ash yelled up to his sister.

Renita Spearing was a tall, slim girl. To anyone who was just looking at her, they'd think she couldn't lift anything. However, that wasn't the case at all. Renita was one of the strongest people alive. Growing up on a genetically altered farm, she was exposed to the effects of the demons. And due to some awful anger management issues, she channeled most of that magic into her fists. Now she was packing her bags to go off to her first group meeting of the military. After years of training, she was finally able to join the military.

The boy downstairs was Renita's brother, Asher Spearing. He, too, was subject to the demonic magic. However, unlike his sister, he became a lightening mage. He also was able to join the military earlier. Now, older and a high ranked military officer, he was tasked with the job of leading the newest group of recruits on their first outing. He immediately sprang at the chance to be Renita's group captain. Why wouldn't he? He had to protect his little sister some how.

"SHUP UP, ASH!" Ren called back, "I'm almost done!"

Renita packed the last of what she thought she need and pushed her bag closed before running down the stairs. Ash smiled at her and messed up her silver-blue hair. She swiped his hand away and followed him out to the issued military vehicle. It was early morning and they had to get to the base soon. Ren tossed her bag into the back of the van and hopped into the front seat. Ash stepped into the drivers seat and they were off.

"So... You excited to see Rosiel?" Ash asked.

Renita didn't respond, all she did was smile. The two of them, Rosie and Renita, were best friends. The first day they met, of course, they hated each other. Renita was just a little too angry for her own good and Rosie was calm and... bored, almost. That simply fueled Ren to attack. Some might think that Ren and her anger would ruin her. But it actually aided her. She's been trained to focus through it and take precise, thought out moves. But against Rosie, they were always matched fairly well.

"Yeah. Definitely," She said with a smile, her eyes moving to stare out the window.

Rosiel's route to the base was simple enough as she hitched a ride on the top of a transport truck headed into the city of New Haven, a round duffel bag and her blades at her side she lay on her back, hands behind her head as she stared lazily at the passing Hydro Fields. They were the center of freshwater for the city, Water Magi frequently inspected the water to make sure it was clean or to fill the tanks. Right next to the Hydro Fields was some of the plantations. Earth Magi were more important there. They grew the food that sustained their population. She found herself sitting up a moment, leaning on her arm to watch the scenery pass.

It wasn't uncommon to see people hitching rides on vehicles so she was no different, the Military barely looked her way more than twice, especially as the second time around she would produce some carefully crafted tags. An old military tradition that had kept after all this time. A person's name and serial number were stamped on the tag so they could be identified. The opposite side held the symbol of a holy cross, representing their dedication to the holy mission before them. Rosiel, however, considered the whole Holy War thing to be complete nonsense.
War was war. Whether it was between humans or demons. Sure Holy Magic had been discovered, cancelling out the Dark Magic of demons, but there were all sorts of elements, like there were all sorts of demons and all sorts of people and not all demons were even that vulnerable to "Holy" magic.

Her eyes turned to the city. Earth Magi and Metal magi were the ones most directly responsible for how pristine it seemed to look and magically built buildings were less susceptible to the wear and tear of time thanks to the faint traces of magic that continued to fill the entire city. The closer she got to the city center, the slower the truck moved until he finally came to a stop at it's destination.
It wasn't the base, but it had done most of the legwork for her. And for once, unlike most times in her life, she showed excitement. She grabbed her weapons and duffel bag, throwing them over her shoulder and leaping from the top of the truck to a nearby fire escape, swinging from it and landing on the street before she made her bad dash toward the military base with a wide grin on her face. She danced and dodged between people, rolling over buildings and leaping over obstacles, smiles all the way.


Unlike Rosiel, Blaze had already reached the base. She was wearing the full Crusader uniform for the sake of the meeting, but in the end the uniform was a formality that would be dispensed with the moment they headed out. She was leaning on the fire-enchanted blade that belonged to her family, both hands crossed on the pommel as she stared silently at the sky. She wondered if her father had felt like this the first time out. But then thinking about that man made her head spin. he was such an idiot, it was a wonder her mother could stand him at all.

Not far from her was Zack Allen, blond boy, frankly a little shorter than average. But he was actually quite the handler of firearms. While they would have a whole supply of firearms, he himself always carried a pair of pistols. Butt hey weren't simple, standard issue toys. No he had practically build them from the ground up with parts and pieces of various guns. Hours of labor saw him machining every single piece down to perfection, adjusting fitting and readjusting until they were perfect. With a reliable mechanical interior and high caliber, Holy Water treated rounds they were lethal demon-killing tools.

And then there was Kline Kimbley. One of the older ride-alongs. He was experienced, a mage of high calibre and at one time even an instructor at the academy, but in all the life of combat suited him better. He was assigned tot he team in order to serve as Asher's adviser and second if anything were to happen to him, leading wasn't his favorite thing so he was placing all his bets on other leaders rising from this new group. If he could stay at the back and watch them grow, that was enough for him, but that wouldn't stop him teasing them.
There were other officials waiting as well in order to give the last of their orders before they set out, but it seemed they were still waiting on a few missing people. It wasn't even a surprise to Blaze that Rosiel was running late..

The base was busy. People rushed about going to and fro to get where they needed. However, one particularly busy area cleared slightly as a blue haired woman stepped through. Blue eyes were on the sky, as she counted something on her fingers. She was in rather strange garb, a large red cloak that covered her hood and the rest of her body. Over most of her legs and arms were dark tattoos that showed through, seeing as she didn't wear much under the cloak. People watched as she aimlessly moved through the crowd, knowing that they'd move out of the way for her.

When she stepped out of the crowd, to her destination, she returned her eyes to the people before her and gasped, as if coming back to reality. "OHMIGOSH!" She cried rushing forward to join the line of recruit, "SO sorry I'm late! I was counting how many clouds were in the sky... and also wondering if i could ever use them..." She smiled at the group, seeing that no one was responding to her. When she didn't get a response, she simply stood up straight and at attention, gripping her hands behind her back.

-----

Ash and Ren's car drove into the lot of the base. People greeted Ash with a smile. Ash returned the gesture but, ultimately, paid no mind to them. Ren watch him for a moment and crossed her arms, smirking. She had always known her brother was a good guy, but for some reason, she always picture him being rather serious in the military. Ren chuckled and knocked her elbow into his ribs, playfully. He gasped a little and rubbed it gently.

"What was that for!?" He asked, shocked.
"Mr. Popular, aren't ya'?" She said with a laugh.

Ash rolled his eyes and chuckled as they moved through the crowd of people. Ahead of them, they could see their group of recruits at attention. Ren smiled seeing the back of a familiar head. She pushed passed Ash and ran for Rosiel, wrapping her arm around her neck, loosely, as a sort of hug. Ren laughed, messing with the girl's hair.

"ROSIE! Miss me, bud?" She said, letting her friend go, "You ready to party with these noobs?"

She was just mocking her team-mates, but Ren always did have a bit of arrogance about her. Ash finally made it to the group, patting Kline on the shoulder. He smiled at him before turning to face the recruits.

"Well, this looks like a FINE group," He said, "Can't wait to start our first mission."

Blaze folded her arms and stared over at Macie as she arrived, eyebrow raised as the girl apologized for being late. She remembered Macie, the girl was a little odd and spacey, but a good person nonetheless, not to mention her abilities were top rate, that was all that mattered in the end. She wouldn't be here if she wasn't ready and willing to go head to head with the demons,
"Relax, you aren't that late, besides.. We're still missing a few people," She responded to the other recruit, dropping her hands to her hips and sighing, "I know we aren't exactly the soldiers of old, but a little more punctual behavior and discipline couldn't hurt," She sighed. Kline chuckled next to her, catching a sudden glare from her, he raised his hands defensively,
"Calm down, I agree with you, but we need to let humans be humans, if we cant; what are we fighting for?" he reasoned. She sighed and rubbed her head, staring ahead of herself, "I guess, but all the other landing parties have had their meetings, I know we aren't at the launch deadline.. Still.." She grumbled. Perhaps what annoyed her the most was that the laid-back attitude of some people reminded her too much of her father.

She found herself freezing still when she heard a familiar yawn. It could only have been Rosiel. She saw the other girl's arms raise on the other side of Kimbley, but what astounded her was that Rosiel was somehow here first, ahead of Renita. She hadn't heard the other girl at all. Rosiel and Renita had always been difficult to deal with, Blaze took longer to get along with them but only did so once she got involved in a battle royale with the two. The academy training grounds were mostly destroyed by the end of the fight and they hadn't even reached a conclusion, the instructors had finally stepped in and placed them all under detention for a week.

She never argued with them again, but she found herself respecting them both, the lazy Rosiel could rise to the occasion, in spite of her lack of motivation, the temper-fueled Renita had a good heart, even if her mouth ran ahead of her brain sometimes. With Rosiel keeping her calm and focused and Renita keeping the former motivated, the two were dangerous. Add people like Blaze or Renita's brother Asher to the mix and anything in their way was going to get crushed. It even started being suggested by the other recruits that the four of them were the academy's most powerful team.

And then of course, along came Renita finally, practically leaping on her childhood friend. Blaze didn't need to watch them to more or less figure out what was going on. Rosiel reached up to the arm around her neck, feigning being choked by the other girl before she eventually slipped out of Renita's grasp and smoothed her hair back, golden eyes staring lazily at Ren, but she smiled, her wry, relaxed smile,
"Things are always boring at home when you dont visit, Ren.." She replied, though she yawned again, rubbing at the side of her head, "But, you know.. We dont have any slouches on the team.. Asher's okay I guess, and we've got Blaze.. Mr Kimbley here's actually kicked more butt than the two of us combined," She half mumbled her words before yawning again. Kimbley raised his brow at the girl and chuckled before nodding to Asher,
"It feels as though we are rather.. Outnumbered.."
"Hey, what about me?" Zack piped up past Macie to the two of them and Rosiel stared over at him briefly, almost as if she didn't recognize him before she perked up a little,
"Oh hey.. I didn't see you there, Zack.." She replied, of course, Rosiel's situational awareness always had been rather appalling when she wasn't fighting, but that didn't stop Zack slouching a little with the idea that he wasn't memorable enough to be noted.