Chapter 1 - The Girl

The Calvard Republic.

There's a city in this country, a place where migrants from the East have recreated their homeland down to the bright lacquered tiles. Nicknamed the Eastern Quarter, it's a vibrant place, bustling and hot.

Orbal buses trundle down the main street lined with stands of fragrant Eastern cooking as the welcoming cries of sellers rise and fall over a crowd of travelers from every nation.

The place where the cultures of East and West meet. Yes, it was a place that wore that mantle well.

On the northern outskirts of that town was a little, run-down bar. Doubtless it had been presentable once, but now the plaster was crumbling and what doors were left barely fit their pitted frames. Of course, such a seedy place attracted the clientele to match. To the lawless and violent, it was home.

'Heh... Sorry. Looks like my win again,' muttered a low voice that echoed through the grimy room. The voice belonged to Jack.

He was of medium size and in his early thirties--a man in his prime. The frayed shirt he wore had seen better days, but the accessories adorning his body were of obvious worth. Much like the brilliant blue of his eyes, none of them quite fit someone like him.

Compared to the dirty, poor, and desperate thugs around him, he looked out of place.

Jack was always to be found at that bar gambling or sharing a round with the dregs of the town. Sometimes fighting, sometimes drinking, he passed his days in idle recreation.

As usual, today found him hunched at the bar. He'd been deep in his cups since early noon. It was the same as always--a day set to be just like all the others was stretching out before him...

...and into that familiar scene cut the shriek of the door opening.

A new customer stepped into that same old bar. But who was this new arrival?

It was a girl...unlike any other he had seen before.