Within a dimly lit temple made of stone, a teenage boy sits on his knees in front of a table, on which is a blank scroll. The boy then grabs a brush, the tips of its bristles covered in black ink. With it, he begins to write on the blank parchment.

We called it Heathmoor. It was the island where the Three Factions first met.

But we did not meet in peace.

There were no signs. It came without warning. We were unaware of each other's presence when we had first settled the new land we had discovered. Then calamity struck Heathmoor, and forced our worlds to collide. There was an attempt at peace between the three of us.

But trust and desperation are seldom allies.

Thus began a century of conflict. One hundred years of war between us. Thousands dead through battle, betrayal, and hunger.

And yet, even after a hundred years of battle, we still searched for peace.

Some tried to show us that there could be no peace. That all there could be was war. They believed that only the strong should survive and thrive whilst the weak suffer and die.

Chief among them was Apollyon. It was she that brought war to Heathmoor. She and her Blackstone Legion attempted to divide us further. They wanted to start their new war born world in Heathmoor, then spread their ideals to the rest of the world.

They started as just another legion comprised of the warriors that hailed from the Germanic kingdoms of Europe. Over time, however, they found that their ideals were shared by both raiders who descended from Norse warriors, and our own people who believed that the Emperor and Shogun had become soft and weak.

Thankfully, we found that those who yearned for peace and preached unity outnumbered those who would spread war and hate. Though we initially viewed each other with mistrust, we had managed to form an alliance to fight Apollyon and her legion of warmongers. In time, we came to see each other as brothers and sisters in battle, bound together by a sense of honor. It was then that the Chimera Alliance was born.

Under a united banner, our alliance stormed Apollyon's stronghold and beat back her legion. As the Europeans and Scandinavians battled the Blackstones, one of our own, a warrior known as The Orochi, faced Apollyon one on one in combat.

It was in that battle that it was revealed what Apollyon truly was.

A demon. One that our people call a Yōma.

It took the combined efforts of The Orochi, a Warden, and a Raider to seal her away in a scroll made by our people, and infused with what can only be described as magic from all three sides. Once sealed away, the rest of Apollyon's legion fell soon after, and the inhabitants of Heathmoor were finally given the peace they had longed for.

However, calamity struck Heathmoor once more, and our peoples were forced to return to our homelands.

There was debate over who would take the scroll Apollyon was sealed in, as it had to be closely monitored at all times, and the seals routinely reinforced, lest Apollyon should escape. The Samurai argued that the Knights were the best at combating demons, as it was commonly practiced in the Catholic Church. We had also claimed that the Vikings' Nordic arts were the closest to actual magic, and could strengthen the seals much more than we could.

In the end, however, the Knights and Vikings agreed that since it was the Samurai that created the scroll that sealed Apollyon away, we knew how to handle it with the proper care. They taught our people all they could about their arts before our factions were forced to escape the collapsing land.

Thus, our people sailed back to Japan as Heathmoor was swallowed by the sea behind us.

Upon returning, the Emperor and the Shogun, who were kept informed of all that had happened in Heathmoor, came to a decision. The Samurai clans who were Heathmoor were formed into their own order, who were to monitor and reinforce Apollyon's scroll as well as serve the Shogun.

As the times changed, so to did this order of Samurai. And when the age of Samurai came to an end in the nineteenth century, this order, the Sensō no Chitsujo, was forced into the shadows, their task to keep Apollyon imprisoned unchanged.

It is now the twenty-first century. The Sensō no Chitsujo is almost extinct. And I fear that, soon, there will be none left to keep Apollyon imprisoned. That task has fallen to me, with the death of my parents and a lack of other family.

However, I carry a small semblance of hope. For in the shadows where the Sensō no Chitsujo now reside, I have found a group that could help. Maybe even accept the task of keeping Apollyon imprisoned, should my order fade into obscurity.

They call themselves Shinobi. They are warriors that fight and live in the shadows, and are well versed in ancient arts that were conceived here in Japan centuries ago. They have existed almost as long as the Samurai. However, they are unaware of the existence of the Sensō no Chitsujo, Apollyon, Heathmoor, the Chimera Alliance. But this knowledge can be easily taught.

The Shinobi are separated into three categories, though it is my understanding that this was not always the case. The Good Shinobi, who fight to uphold the laws made by the modern day government and deliver Justice to those that would harm the innocent. The Evil Shinobi, who primarily fight for profit and the glory of their clans. And the Renegade Shinobi, who were cast out of their clans and marked for death, regardless of alignment.

I have studied these Shinobi for at least a two years now. I had enrolled at Hanzō Academy in order to determine if these Shinobi can be trusted to keep Apollyon sealed away. They still do not know of my order, or my task as a Samurai of the Sensō no Chitsujo, but I plan to tell them in time.

Not just them, either. During my time disguised as a shinobi, I have come across three other Shinobi groups that could help. Other Good Shinobi from Gessen Academy, who value justice and the safety of the innocent. Then there is Homura's Crimson Squad, a group of Renegade Shinobi that once belonged to an Evil Shinobi school. And lastly, Hebijo Academy, a school dedicated to teaching and training Evil Shinobi.

The last two may sound like odd candidates for a task that could shape the world, but I have learned in my time as a "shinobi" that Good and Evil are more titles, and that alignment does not define one's morality.

I have also met other groups of shinobi more recently, but do not know enough about them to reach a verdict. Of these more recent groups, the ones I have known longest, as well as the strongest, is the Zodiac Star Committee. They possess the fortitude and courage for my task, and seem to have an aptitude for secret arts. However, their willingness to uphold the Shinobi Principle, which is meant to keep groups like Hanzō, Crimson Squad, Gessen, and Hebijo divided is... concerning.

And if for any reason I cannot trust any of them to take on my task, the Knights and Vikings still exist, and in vastly greater numbers. Perhaps they will remember what we had done for each other in Heathmoor, and the Chimera Alliance.

If not as thanks, then hopefully...

For Honor.

The boy then puts the brush down and takes a breath. After letting the last bit of ink dry, he rolls up the scroll and binds it. He then gets up from the table and walks over to an altar. He sets the scroll to the side, then turns his attention to a small box in the middle of the altar. He opens the box and looks at the scroll inside, which is bound together by three seals: a Japanese charm, a Norse charm, and a wood cross necklace.

After examining the scroll carefully without removing it from the box, the boy sighs in relief. He then closes the box, then takes a seat in front of the altar.

For a few moments, there's silence. The only sound in the temple is the crackling of the fire in the chandeliers and torches, and the boy's breathing and faint heartbeat.

...

...

...

*BZZZT...BZZZT*

The boy sighed, then took his phone out of his pocket. He looked at the caller ID.

Ikaruga

He sighed again, then answered the phone.

"Yo." He said.

"Kashige-san?" Ikaruga asked.

"Yeah, what's up?" The boy, Kashige, asked.

"Oh, not much. Just the fact that you missed the first hour of training." Ikaruga replied, her voice becoming sterner as she finished the sentence.

"Uh-huh,that's nice..." Kashige replied.

Suddenly, it then registered what she had just said.

"Wait... WHAT?!" Kashige exclaimed as he shot up to his feet, his body going pale.

"And thanks to your laziness, we had to endure a more intense workout session." Ikaruga explained, clearly pissed off about it.

"I'm so sorry Ikaruga-senpai! I-I must have lost track of time! I'm heading there immediately! I just hope Daidouji-sensei isn't too pissed off at me." Kashige said, mumbling the last part to himself.

"Actually, Kiriya-sensei got back from his mission last night, so you'll have to answer to him this morning." Ikaruga replied.

Kashige froze up upon hearing this news, a bead of sweat rolling down his head.

"R-right..." Kashige replied fearfully as he hung up the phone.

He then gathered his things and raced out of the temple, but remembered to close the temple's hidden door.

With that, he dashed towards Hanzō Academy as fast as his legs could carry him. And he only had one thing on his mind as he ran...

'SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SSSHHHIIITTT!!!'