The Four Guardians

By the time Tempus returned to the Demon Realm, Beck had already left the Academy. He travelled as far as he could with what little life he had left. That was before he encountered the Jester Masks.

"Tempus told me about you. I already know about your book. I'm a dying man. I have nothing you want." Beck said standing tall towards the two people standing in front of him.

"Teehee. My book? No no. I won't be the one killing you. That's this guys job."

The two Jester Masks were at complete opposite ends of the physique. Envy possessed a tiny body whilst next to her stood a large 9ft man with white eyes.

"This guy?" Beck said. "What is he going to do? His eyes are white and his mouth is sewn shut. Although you two do look cute together."

"Teehee. Do you think so? This isn't like you? Talking about stuff like this? Perhaps you are already aware that you will die. Although… You can live, you just need to tell us something."

"Just because I don't have long left doesn't mean I'm not going down without a fight. I'm not telling you shit."

Beck was fully aware of his condition and the outcome of the fight. He didn't know why he decided to say such a childish comment. Perhaps it was the influence of his old friend that made him want to survive.

"Ohhh. That's what I like to see. The more you fight the quicker you die! How fun! Wrath, Kill him!"

The giant took one step forward with Beck on full guard. He didn't know how it happened, but he quickly began to cough up blood.

"H-how… I didn't even see his catalyst."

"Teehee, don't you know catalysts come in all different shapes and sizes."

Envy approached the crippled Beck and whispered into his ear.

"Ren says he misses you."

Rage filled Becks eyes as a gust of wind pushed back Envy. However, it was too late as Wrath had already crushed his heart. Beck laid on the ground with his back facing up, remembering each and every one of his students, before moving on to his next life.

"Aw… That was no fun. He just collapsed." Envy said kicking his dead body. "It's a shame. I wanted him to tell us where the other catalysts were. How is your catalyst going, Wrath? How many more do we need to kill?"

Envy spoke to wrath but there was no response. He stood there like an Iron wall making no noise.

"Teehee. Sometimes I forget you can't speak. Well then, if I remember the rumours say around 10,000. If that's true you'll be done in no time, and we'll be one step closer to our goal."

Wrath slowly began to move forward and faced a forest that was in front of them. He looked up to the sky that he couldn't even see and felt the vibrations from the birds falling to the ground, one after the other.

"Fishing, are we?" Envy asked. "You're just trying to scare her, aren't you? I'm surprised she stayed still for this long. Why not attack her directly?"

Wrath took several more steps forward and out of a tree fell a small girl, whose black clothing turned red from coughing up her own blood.

"Spying, are we? Teehee. Don't worry. We won't kill you. Teehee. We need you to tell Tempus about this. He is a key role in our plan."

Envy let the spy go who ran as fast as she could, to report back to Thorit.

"Teehee. How exciting, how exciting. This is going to be sooooo fun. I can't wait."

# # #

"Shit," Tempus said, thinking to himself. "They got him already."

"Who did?" Ifer asked.

"The Jester Masks. They are already making their move."

"Master Tempus. There is more to report."

The guardians listened to the spy's report. They listened for valuable information that would help them, but they didn't get anything.

"Wrath and Envy…" Tempus said. "So that's what they call themselves."

"Forget about their names," Sagitta said. "What about their magic? How did you get hurt if he didn't do anything."

Tempus sat staring at the sky thinking about his experience with Envy and the rumours he grew up hearing. There were too many to make an educated guess and it was stupid to fight without any idea of their powers.

"I have no idea," Tempus said. "Although, I think it's even more important we go see the angels. They will be able to tell us more."

"Agreed," Ifer said. "For now we have to go to the meeting of the nations. Once we get permission we can go all out and prepare for the worst."

The four guardians left the following morning, fully prepared for the long meeting ahead. It would take them 5 days of travel to arrive at their destination. They each travelled in their own carriage which was being pulled by a Horse Dragon. The horse dragon ran restlessly for the 5 days and only stopped to drink and eat which barley took 5 minutes.

Tempus sat staring at the knitted top of the carriage whilst it rode along the bumpy road, thinking back on what he heard from the spy. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about the angels. The angels that keep the world in balance, the only two people in the whole world who have access to space and time magic. Magical creatures that only need to pass down their magic once every thousand. He knew it wasn't going to be easy, he wasn't sure if he would come out alive, none of the guardians did. All they knew was that whatever a threat was in front of them, they have to deal with it together.