Dantega:Volume 1 Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The End of Royalty

1000 years after the Apocalypse...

The peace after the Apocalypse foretold in the book of revelations never happened.

It was said that the aftermath of such devastation would bring about a thousand years of prosperity to man; but the battle didn’t go as prophesied. Instead, both forces had just about completely destroyed each other. The result of the massive war has left a world drastically different, the map of the land has completely changed. The continents have been slightly broken apart and shifted closer towards each other, certain countries are now connected making travel much more simple and others are separated by large oceans.

As a result, most everyone left alive had settled in land masses relatively close to each other, their past cultures forgotten, they began to forge a new path with just 1/5th of its original population.

The extinction level event left the past version of humanity in shambles.

In God’s final judgment, the belongings of the remaining humans were taken away, this included governments, weapons, knowledge, history, even basic human identity was returned to the heavens as if to give them one final chance to start over.

And so in the thousand years since the restart, the human race has worked their way back to grandeur; although there are no cars, guns or planes, the cities and roads much more resemble the drawings of ancient Alexandria or the fabled Atlantis instead of the metropolises of New York or Tokyo. The humans of today have simply evolved intellectually down an alternative path, and in doing so created an incredible new world.

There are three superpowers of this new world, each with cultures not too dissimilar to one another.

La’Juune of the west, Troy to the north, and Eiyalazo to the east.

These three Kingdoms have been at an on and off war since their founding, thus bringing hate and animosity that will likely never fade. Due to the power struggle of obtaining land and resources in each other’s country, many of each country's citizens once occupied tell of terrible tragedies bestowed on them by the opposing nations.

However, countless years of conflict have been endured at a dreadful cost to mind, body, and purse, and the leaders along with their people have grown weary of the accumulating toll.

After 10 years of relative peace at the conclusion of their biggest war to date, the three Kingdoms have decided it is now time for an attempt at permanent peace.

Through arranged marriages between the princes and princesses of the three countries, the royal families will call a truce to generations of past wars and conflicts and become allies with the goal of obtaining world peace.

It is under these circumstances, that the story of that dream begins...

A horse drawn carriage with 20 guards armed with swords, shields, and silver armor moves slowly on a marble road through a temperate forest. There are six women sitting in the extravagantly designed carriage. Four of whom are dressed in nun attire.

“You should be happy, Princess Trojia, this could really be the first step to world peace you know?” said a woman dressed in armor.

The princess she is addressing has glowing blonde hair and deep forest green eyes that are peering out of the window.

She looks agitated as she stiffly replies, "Niomyo, there’s no such thing as world peace. This so-called tri-alliance between La’Juune, Troy, and Eiyalazo is just a ploy to see who can gather the most territory from the north and south, only to declare war on each other once they have what they want. You should know how my mother and the other Kings think by now.”

The princess is only sixteen but gives off the impression that she is wise beyond her years.

”Come on now, that can’t happen, you’ll have some kind of control over La’Juune in the future as the Princess and then--"

”You’re right.” Trojia swiftly interrupts, “’ll have to poison the King quickly so I can become the Queen and stop this mess.”

Her stern declaration was accompanied by a wry smile, but her bodyguard didn’t notice.

With a shocked look on her face, the brown haired guard exclaims, ”You can’t be serious!?”

”Of course I'm kidding, you idiot."

A loud sigh of relief spread through the inside of the carriage as all five of the women held their chests to control the nervous beats of their hearts.

”But... I truly don’t want to get married, not like this, and especially not to that spoiled brat of a prince.”

Paying no mind to the concerned glares of the four nuns sitting across and next to her, Trojia blankly gazes out the window towards the greenery of the forest.

Something in the distance flashes and catches her eye when she says, ”Hey Niomyo, I remember overhearing our archbishop saying that almost half of La’Juune’s population is against these marriages, similar to how we Trojans feel... you don’t think that there will be any retaliation from radicals on our convoy?”

“I’m not sure, but we’ll be meeting with the commander of their army in a few miles for added protection just in case. Besides, I’ll be here to protect you!”

As soon as Niomyo finished talking...

BOOOOOOMM!!!!

A loud, fiery explosion rips through the right side of the carriage, two of the four nuns seemingly disappear in smoke and flame. As the carriage suddenly halts; Trojia looks back out the window in shock and sees what the flashing was that caught her eye earlier.

A man clad in camouflage apparel with a painted face is pointing a bow and arrow directly at the window of the carriage.

Directly at the face of the young princess.

One of the nuns sitting next to Trojia shouts, “Get down!!!” as she pushes Trojia to the floor.

The green eyes of the teenager are still frozen as she looks up at the face of the one pushing her down, she sees the woman show a strained smile as if knowing what is about to happen and resigning herself to it.

A short moment later, an arrow explodes through the temples of her head.

Blood sprays all throughout the cabin and stains the frilly white dress of the princess, and on to the unconscious faces of the last surviving nun and the maiden bodyguard Niomyo.

Seeing someone die for the first time, the sheltered princess faints, it all happened so fast that the next thing she knew, she has awaken find herself bound and gagged by a surrounding group of fifteen men.

"!?"

One man notices the frightened glares of the princess and proceeds to remove the gag cloth from her mouth.

Trojia investigates her surroundings, only to see the huddled mass of the armor clad dead bodies of all the guards that were protecting her carriage just moments earlier.

She then nervously asks, ”An ambush? Why? Who are you people!?”

A man approaches dressed in armor with a fur coat; with this outfit it’s apparent that he is the one in charge.

With a satisfied smile he answers, ”You know, I had a daughter once, she was around your age when the armies of Troy invaded our land and burned down my village. She’d be damn near 30 now if she wasn’t murdered by you bastards.”

”Where is my bodyguard and the nuns who were with me in the carriage?” Trojia demands, ignoring the story of the man.

Angered by the tone of the princess's voice, the man licks his lips when he replies, “They’re being taken care of.”

The implication of those words were meant to be obvious, she frowns and shouts, “Don’t you dare lay a finger on them!”

“I don’t think you understand the position you’re in, we are the ones in control here, not the kings or royal families. How can we let this disgraceful marriage happen? Not while the evils of your country are still so fresh in our minds. It’s time we stand up for ourselves if our King won’t do it for us. With you dead, we can avenge our fallen comrades and keep La’Juune for the La’Juutians.”

Trojia looks at the man, his face turns distorted with a twisted smile and it repulses her.

“Of course, we can’t let an opportunity for the spoils of war to pass us by, it’s not often that mere peasants like us get a chance to put our hands on the untouchable body of a princess.” He then shouts towards the younger men in the group. “Who wants to be the first to take her!?”

Seeing three men shove at each other while making their way closer to Trojia, she finally reveals an expression of fear while thinking to herself that she’d much rather die.

One of the young men gets within a few feet of her and reaches out his hand, attempting to grab her arm.

Trojia tightly closed her teary eyes, begging in her mind for someone to help even though she knows that she is all alone and helpless.

Suddenly a ghastly scream is heard, it’s the approaching young man holding the area where his hand should be, there is nothing there but blood and bone.

Trojia looks up as a reaction to the sound and sees a whitish silver flash, darting in every direction as her captors collapse one by one.

As quickly as the flash started, the blur of the moment ended, and all of the men who sought to kill the princess were writhing on the ground in pain.

In the midst of all the carnage stood a light brown skinned man with silver hair wearing a navy cardigan above slim gray pants.

He confidently holds a red diamond sword that’s of an unfamiliar shape compared to any weapon she’s seen before. The man turns to look at Trojia with his unusual light green eyes that have pupils that look more like a reptile than a human.

“Are you okay?”

Trojia, still in shock cannot utter a word, she is still overwhelmed by the whole situation that has unfolded in front of her.

He sheaths his sword, reaches out his hand and unties the ropes that bound the princess's arms; Trojia doesn’t even flinch as her eyes are set on the face of the man who looks not much older than her.

He then holds his hand out to help her back to her feet, the sun shining through his silver hair made his appearance even more angel-like as she looked up at him.

Trojia obliges and grabs his hand.

As soon as they touch, her heart races and beats like never before, there is an energy about his presence that sends shockwaves of electricity through her body.

Through her dried throat she nervously asks, ”Why did you help me?”

The young man smiles and explains, ”Because you were in trouble.”

He turns and begins to walk away from her.

Without realizing it, her instincts take over and she grabs the sleeve of his cardigan.

“Who are you?”

"I’m just someone trying to do good.”

Before the man could say anything more, the sound of approaching horses and voices are heard echoing through the trees and coming from down the marble road.

After a few short moments they are now visible, it is the La’Juutian army on its way to the late rescue.

The young man looks at Trojia with another smile, “I’d rather not have to explain myself to them, so I’ll see myself out.”

He then waves goodbye and jumps freakishly high over the trees and disappears from sight.

Trojia only had time to shout, “Wait!”

But it was too late, the hero who saved her had made his exit before any more pleasantries could be exchanged.

“I never got to thank you….”

(PART 2)

The La’Juutian army arrives at the scene of the massacre with Niomyo in tow.

Overwhelmed with happiness, the princess’s bodyguard runs at Trojia while exclaiming, “Princess! I'm so glad to see your okay!”

She then gets on her knees, and with sorrowful eyes to the floor she says, “I'm so sorry... I failed to protect you, please punish me as you deem fit princess.”

Trojia ignores the words of her servant and with a concerned glare replies, “What did they do to you, Niomyo?”

Surprised at the princess’s concern, Niomyo hesitantly answers, “They didn't do anything, thank goodness the army came just in time to save me... but our nun Sherry wasn’t so lucky, they chose her first.”

It was obvious that Niomyo was traumatized by the happenings of this incident, so Trojia didn’t pry any further.

Breaking their moment of silence, a powerful voice is heard coming from behind them.

“Let’s get going towards the city, your highness, our King awaits your arrival. I’ll leave behind some men to bury the dead. And I'll make sure that the attackers will never see the light of another day.”

The voice came from a tall black man decorated in an extravagant suit of golden armor. He is Napoleon Leopolo, the world famous twenty six year old military leader who has been the Commanding General of the powerful army of La’Juune since the young age of fifteen.

Next to the King of La’Juune, he is the most hated man in Troy; he is responsible for tens of thousands of Trojan deaths in his eleven year tenure.

Napoleon walks to within a couple yards of princess Trojia, he bows and introduces himself in such a humble way it catches the wise teenage royal completely off guard. Trojia has only ever heard of the horror stories that surround this man’s legend, even her own father had fought with Napoleon and barely escaped with his life. So having him appear in front of her not as the monster she had imagined in her head left her not knowing how to react his presence.

“I don’t need an introduction from you.” she said curtly.

The General shows an expressionless face as if knowing exactly what she implied, but purposely ignored the malice in her tone.

He gestures towards the road leading deeper into the forrest when he asks, "Shall we? “

The group travels for another few hours or so until they reach the apex of a large hill, and over that hill in a valley is the sight of the renowned city of grandeur. The Capital City of La’Juune.

A seemingly endless amount of incredibly designed buildings stretch across the horizon as it gives off a golden bluish tint, this is the first time the princess of Troy ever visited La’Juune and is amazed that the rumors of what it looked like were actually true.

After proceeding down the hill and through the center of the town, they are greeted with a parade of people that stretched for miles down the road they traveled on; flower pedals, music, and the smell of food flowing through the air welcomes them warmly.

“Woah! I thought the people of La’Juune didn’t want this alliance?” said Niomyo, who is entranced by all the colors of the surrounding buildings and people.

Trojia, who is equally mesmerized by this but is too proud to show it, replies with suspicion. “It seems like they were already in the process of celebrating someone else's arrival, doesn’t it?”

“Now that you mention it, it kind of does.”

“Yeah, could it be that ‘they’ are here as well?”

After quite some time traversing the busy city streets, they reach the large castle of the King, the castle stretches dozens of stories up and seemingly shines in gold as they enter.

Almost every member of the army that accompanied them to gates of the castle were left outside, and only two of them are with general Napoleon who is now leading Niomyo and Trojia through the labyrinth like innards of the massive castle.

Finally after what seemed like a long walk, they are led to the top suite of the castle; it is a luxurious room with gorgeous oak furnishings and rare paintings. Underneath their feet are expensive rugs that they both almost feel guilty to even stand on.

This room really shows off the riches of the La’Juutian Kingdom, from the massive windows allowing sunlight in to the very details of the porphyry marble columns along the walls of the room.

“Please wait here and wash up, there is a change of clothes in the bathroom for you both.” Napoleon informs the two women, “The others will be here shortly, so please refrain from taking too long.”

Feeling like she was being talked down to, Trojia is a little offended by his choice of words.

Just as she was about to say something snippy in reply, she was interrupted Niomyo bowing and saying, “Thank you for saving my life, General.”

Much to the surprise of both women, Napoleon reveals a slight smile and humbly replies,

“You’re welcome.”

He then shuts the door and the two of them proceed to the bath.

After being told the story of what happened by Niomyo, Trojia can't help but be grateful for the great Trojan murdering general for just a brief moment for saving the life of her precious guard.

Soon after changing into a fresh pair of nicely made clothes, the mood changes when they exit the bathroom and look towards the giant window on the other side of the massive living room. That's when they see the figures of two women with two stealthily dressed men; they aren’t La’Juutian, instead they are the two princesses and bodyguards of the eastern country of Eiyalazo.

“What the hell are you doing here!?” yells the Eiyalazonian princess with pinkish hair and bright purple eyes.

“Hmph, princess Daey DiVore, I see you're as loud as ever.” Trojia replies with a puff out of her nose.

Eiyalazo and Troy were once allies in a war against La’Juune ten years ago, so the two princesses are quite familiar with each other. But after the war was called a truce due to a worldwide drought, the two allies became enemies immediately afterwards because of disagreements in economic policies. They also fought amongst themselves in bloody battles for the rights to the remaining lakes and rivers on the border between the two countries.

The former childhood friends now hold a competitive animosity towards one another, though to Trojia, the only one who really takes the grudge to heart is Daey.

“Um... it is nice to see you again after all this time, Trojia.” The soft spoken voice came from the fifteen year old younger sister of the more brash eighteen year old princess.

She resembles her older sibling but her hair is black. She has always been shy, gentle and kind, much to the opposite of how Trojia views Daey. She very much likes Niera and the two were both very close friends before their country’s relations took a sour turn.

"It’s great to see you too Niera, we’ve all grown so much since the last time we were together. I wasn’t told that we were all going to be here at the same time, so this is a nice surprise.”

The official marrying age of La’Juune is sixteen, so the original plan was to have the elder sister Daey, marry the middle prince of La’Juune, and the younger sister Niera, marry the youngest at the same time. But both the young ones are under the age requirement, so it’s odd that Niera was even summoned in the first place.

“We were told that it was important to visit now to officially become engaged to the Princes. We weren’t told that Trojans would be here at the same time! I'm not ready to be around you people yet!” Daey shouts.

Ignoring Daey’s insult, Trojia holds onto her chin in contemplation when she replies, “That’s odd, that wasn’t mentioned to me either. I was summoned specifically to live here as the prince’s wife... this is my first time in this country, I never had to go through some official engagement process."

Everyone in the room was left pondering what could possibly be the reason for this, but it was quickly shrugged off when the large doors opened and they laid eyes on the people who stepped in through the hallway.

In walks Napoleon, guiding a priest dressed in black; the priest is a black man with glowing purple eyes and starch white hair. Behind him comes two teenagers dressed in royal garments, and beside the two are what seems to be their bodyguards, both of whom are women.

"Alright then let’s get the introductions over with, you all have met Napoleon, the priest here is Phoenix Navara, and last is my bodyguard Tsubiri.”

Those hurriedly spoken words came from the Crown Prince and rightful heir to the throne of La'Juune, Xavier Courlivet.

“So you didn’t feel the need to introduce yourself, huh?” said the other young man next to the Crown Prince.

Xavier, like a snobby little kid replies, “They already know who I am of course!”

The other young man smiles with an embarrassed look on his face. ”As you might not know, this is prince Xavier, and I am Luke, the second prince of La’Juune, and next to me is my bodyguard Sora.”

Surprised at the difference in maturity between the two princes, Trojia and the rest introduce themselves as well. After the formalities, the doors shut and out comes the questions being pondered just moments earlier, but the questions oddly come from the bodyguard of princess Daey and Niera.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why was princess Niera summoned here for an official engagement when both princess Daey and Trojia never before had to visit that reason?”

He is a tall man wearing a long coat that covers half of his face so only his black sunglasses can be seen over his eyes. He introduced himself as Cyrus in a previous conversation.

The other bodyguard is an elderly man named Rudo, he is wearing a short sleeved shirt that reveals the abundant amount of scars that tatter his arms.

He joins in and asks, “And from what I see here, Niera’s future husband is not present with you all.”

“Geez! It’s not often that a prince gets bombarded with questions by mere bodyguards, know your place you worms!” Xavier exclaims.

Once again embarrassed by his sibling’s words, the much more mature Luke tries to explain, “He is currently attending a military meeting, he should be arriving shortly.”

“What about the king? I do believe this is hardly a matter that can be handled by ourselves.” Trojia asked.

All of the La’Juutians look at each other in confusion when Luke softly says, “That’s a good question... we actually don’t know where he is, he was supposed to be the first one here.”

Everyone stood in silence as they thought about the oddness of the situation when they heard an unfamiliar voice coming from the other side of the room saying.

“He’s dead.”

All the occupants of the room look at the source of the voice with surprise.

A young man sits on a throne-like chair next to the fireplace, he has black hair and blood red eyes with white pupils. He is wearing a gray coat with a series of small chains that wrap around the linings of the coat, giving off a menacing look.

With a faint smile he then says to the confused group of royals, “It looks like everyone I need is here, except for the two stars of the show.”

Napoleon and the guards all simultaneously pull out their weapons and point it at the mysterious man.

“Who are you!? How did you get in here!?” shouts Cyrus.

The intruder mixes his faint smile with an emotionless glare and calmly responds, “I’ve been here the entire time, waiting...”

Trojia is genuinely frightened by this person, he gives off an evil aura that she’s never felt before. But she is somehow able to nervously force out a question of her own.

"What do you mean the king is dead?”

The smile leaves the man on the throne, and with a sharp stare he answers, “I killed him of course. Weak sin-filled men like him are easy to manipulate, once his use was up, I had him die.”

Wondering whether to believe him or not, the two princes of La'Juune are very uneasy upon hearing that, they are experiencing similar a sensation from his aura to Trojia, and it is because of this that they have no reason not to believe him.

The man stands up and spreads his arms. “The answers to all of your questions lie with me. Though you will find them to be trivial once 'they' arrive... oh? One actually has just--”

GAAAAASH!!!

A loud sound of glass breaking is heard, in seemingly slow motion the giant window the size of the room has exploded into shards, and in the middle of the ear ringing noise, an even louder scream is heard.

“DAMIEN!!!”

The voice comes from a light brown skinned man with silver hair.

Trojia, the only one who hasn’t prostrated on the ground, instantly recognized this person, he is the person that saved her.

The dust has settled and the young man is standing in the middle of the large room with his red diamond sword ready to slash down his enemy. Shaking off the shock, everyone looks up in amazement as they come to terms of what just happened.

“What the hell! Did he just jump through the window!?” yelled Xavier.

He spoke the thoughts of the others who know that the suite they are in is at the top of the fifty story castle.

Paying no mind to the physics of the situation because she has seen the abnormality of this person just hours earlier, Trojia shouts out to him. But the look that he gave her in return was the complete opposite of what he had expressed to her in the forest, a frown filled with hate caught Trojia off guard.

The frown gave way to a confused look when he asked, “You!? What are you doing here?”

Hearing him ask that, she realizes that this boy had no clue who she was from the very beginning, and just like he said, he saved her for no reason other than the fact that she was in trouble.

Before she could reply, the man addressed as Damien spoke.

”Very good Ubica, my old friend, for a while I thought you wouldn’t come. Now there's just one more actor to join my play.”

After hearing Damien’s voice, it seemed like the young man named Ubica completely disregarded the presence of the others, “Where is she? Damien!”

When Damien replies with silence, Ubica is overcome with anger as the two exchange knowing glares.

This triggers him to rush in and attack.

This is when the sky outside suddenly turned a maddening black, filling the room with darkness.

The attention of all the occupants in the room was shifted toward the shattered window from which the darkness came.

“Ah, he’s finally here,” Damien said with a faint smile.

Emerging from the darkness is a white haired man clad in black standing on a black cloud, in his right hand he holds a large scythe.

Ubica, not looking surprised at all clicks his tongue and spits out the name of the man, “Rage...”

Speechless, Trojia and the rest are frozen with the overwhelming aura of death spewing like toxic smoke from the man.

“You’ve been careless, Ubica, today is the long awaited day I obtain your soul.”

“No Rage, here is where you're wrong." Damien interjects. "It’s you who is the careless one.”

Damien is holding out his hand and makes a gesture of a finger snap.

As if the appearance of the man on the throne was the last person he expected to see, Rage is caught completely off guard.

“Damien!?”

“Who would have thought this would happen after all this time.” Ubica said, posturing himself into a position to strike whoever makes their move first.

The tension between the three gave off the feeling of gods saying their final words to each other before squaring off in an epic battle. Naturally, everyone else was curious as to what was happening but the intense vibe from the three sucks the will to speak out of their mouths, all they could do is watch stiffly.

”Everything is going just as planned, if you all have not noticed yet, everyone in this room is here because I want them to be.”

Ubica looks confused by Damien’s words and Rage has a face of anger as he realizes he had fallen into an avoidable trap.

Rage charges at Damien, scythe in a readied position for a strike.

”It is finally time for me to change it all. I would appreciate it if you all play your part.”

Damien reveals a final look of content and with a snap of his finger he vanishes.

Suddenly a strong tornado like wind blows, the entire room starts shaking violently; all of the expensive furniture is sliding through the room at dangerous speeds. Wooden chairs slam into the walls and shatter, all the broken glass once on the floor is slicing through the air across the entire length of the vicinity.

All one can do is hit the deck and throw one's hands over the neck and head for protection, which is exactly what everyone other than Ubica and Rage are doing. On the contrary, the two of them are simply just standing in the midst of the chaos glaring at one another like there wasn’t even a hint of danger.

Trojia looks up and sees the two men who are standing calmly in the center of the mass of glass, furniture, and other large objects when in the corner of her eyes she sees a large oak cabinet hurling towards her.

Not being able to move due to the shaking of the room, she is currently the textbook definition of being defenseless. All she could do was close her eyes and wait for the pain of the broken bones caused by the heavy object slamming into the side of her body.

CRASH!!

The disturbing sound of the cabinet smashing into a person is heard, but it is not Trojia who was hit. She opens her big green eyes only to see the chest of someone who is embracing her tightly, tilting her head upward she sees Ubica. He took the full brunt of the force to protect the helpless princess, realizing this, Trojia’s face turns a little blue, she figures he must be terribly hurt after such an event.

“Are you alright!!?”

Ubica looks down at her and with an impish smile replies, “What!? I can’t hear you, the wind is too loud!”

After a minute of intensity, the wind and earthquake like shaking eases to a stop.

Ubica helps Trojia to her feet as the others all check themselves for any injuries, to their relief they find that no one is hurt. As if the moment of kindness towards the endangered princess never happened, Ubica’s facial expression turns cold as he shifts his body toward Rage.

“Well then, it seems I can’t just avoid you anymore. If it’s a fight you want, then I’ll give it to you. Just know this, there is no way I will die before I get what I want out of Damien. I will not lose.”

Ubica draws his sword and points it at Rage.

Without flinching Rage calmly says, “I don’t believe us fighting is all too wise.”

“Why’s that?”

“You can feel it right? You should know where we are, you are going to need my help, and I am going to need yours.”

”After all this time trying to kill me you expect me to just call a truce?" Ubica sighs and lets his guard down. "Well, by looking outside I guess I have no choice.”

The rest of the group look towards the broken window, what catches their attention is that there is no longer a view of the city of grandeur, but only the color of gray clouds can be seen. They are met with an eerie silence accompanying those gray clouds.

Rage looks at the crowd of royals and then shifts his attention back toward Ubica.

“This is bad...”

“What do you think he's trying to accomplish by bringing us here?”

“I don't think it's just about us, do you have any idea who is standing behind you?”

Ubica looks back at the group of weary and confused royals and thinks nothing of them.

This prompts Rage to say, “There are heirs to the throne of the three largest countries on Earth in that group.”

Ubica is now surprised, he had no idea.

But right as he was about to speak the panicked voice of Xavier is heard shouting, “What the hell is going on here! Who are you people!? Answer me!!”

Both Rage and Ubica send him a sharp glare and simultaneously say, "Shut up.”

Xavier looks stunned by what they said and shouts, “You bastards! How dare you speak that way to the prince of La’Juune!”

Ubica shrugs it off and ignores him but Rage moves closer to the young prince, grabs his collar and with a mild hint of anger says, “Listen boy, in this world, there is no such thing as royalty.”

Shocked and scared, Xavier backs away toward the door and he grabs the handle. “H-Hey, why aren’t my bodyguards attacking these monsters!!? Napoleon!! He threatened me, you saw him threaten me!!! Tsubiri, kill him!”

Napoleon looks at his cowardly prince with a dejected glare, it is obvious he has no intentions of making a move on his behalf.

Tsubiri on the other hand looks completely determined to follow the orders from her master, but she is so afraid of Rage and overwhelmed by everything that has just happened that her legs can’t move.

Naturally, Xavier took their reactions as blasphemy, oblivious to the situation he is in and feeling betrayed by his subjects, he opens the door to the hallway and shouts, “I’ll have you two killed for this, I don’t need you guys! My father will execute you for insubordination!”

He runs out the door and instantly finds himself falling uncontrollably into the thick gray clouds, before he could even scream he was grabbed by both Napoleon and Tsubiri.

His life was saved by the very people he had just threatened to have executed.

Once pulled back into the room, Xavier shakily sits with his back against the wall, struck with the feeling of shame at his actions along with the undeniably helpless feeling of falling out of the sky. It would seem he has finally realized that the defense mechanisms of using his title as Prince will do him no good any longer.

“Damn I was kind of hoping he’d fall to his death, it would’ve been much quieter if he had.” Ubica said sarcastically.

Trojia shoves him in jest and says, “That’s a mean thing to say.”

Xavier lifts his wary head and shows her a face filled with gratitude. “Thank you princess Trojia, even though everyone else turned on me, at least I know that my future wife is supportive.”

Trojia’s face turns pale, she has forgotten about the marriage until now. She has always disliked the spoiled prince of La’Juune since the first time she met him. During the peace talks after the war ten years ago, the King of La’Juune met with the Queen of Troy and brought his little eight year old son along, and in Trojia’s eyes he hasn’t changed at all since, still arrogant and still spoiled.

“You want to marry this guy?"

"Of course I don’t! It’s just, I have no choice in the matter...”

Ubica tilts his head and asks, “What do you mean you don’t have a choice?”

“I'm the princess of Troy and my mother and his father arranged the marriage between us. You really haven’t heard the news about all this? Have you been living under a rock until now?”

Ubica scratches his head and looks away a little embarrassed. "Well, actually..."

"We have much larger things to worry about now.” Rage interjects, “so you can both stop this pointless conversation.”

Responding to his words, Napoleon walks towards the giant broken window. “I agree, so if you don’t mind, would you kindly explain to me what is happening?”

Looking at the calm demeanor of the legendary general, Rage felt much more obliged to answer him. “That man’s name is Damien, he is the son of the devil and has brought us to Purgatory... The world between Earth and Hell.”

Upon hearing this, the priest exclaims in surprise, “Purgatory!?”

Napoleon looks at the royal priest and begins to have a feeling that they are involved in something beyond human comprehension.

"I take it you’ve never read the Bible, General?” Rage asks.

“I haven’t.”

Hearing his words, Rage halfway smiles and says, “I think you and I will get along well in the near future.”

Ubica looks back to Trojia and says, “If I would have known what your situation was when we first met, I would’ve done something to help.”

Flustered by the thought of Ubica's kindness, her comfort in his words is abruptly interrupted when the a loud noise is suddenly heard.

CRACK!!!!

The room starts to shake again and now is breaking apart.

“We’ll finish answering the rest of your questions when we get to the ground.” Rage says while he raises his scythe.

Ubica suddenly grabs Trojia’s hand, and with a smile looks at the scythe bearer. “I assume you can handle the rest right? I’ll see you on the surface!”

With the princess in tow he jumps out of the window into the dense gray clouds and disappears.

“Princess!!!” shouts a horrified Niomyo.

She runs after her only to be stopped by dark black clouds with a frightening looking man standing on it.

“She’ll be fine. If you all want to live, gather what you feel is important and come with me.”

Hesitantly, the royals, still skeptical of the reality of it all begin to gather items in the room that might be necessary in the near future. They grab extra clothes and weapons once in cabinets that are now scattered around the room, and then the group joins Rage on the evil looking black cloud before floating down towards the ground gently like a falling feather.

Seeing the structure of the living room dissolve from outside on the black cloud was quite an astonishing spectacle. The only form of stability holding the suite are four extremely large pillars on each corner that are fading in and out of the moving gray of the thick clouds. The most amazing thing about it is that there was once the fifty story castle of La’Juune beneath the room where the pillars are now. One can’t help but believe that they truly have been taken to a different world.

Tightly held by Ubica, Trojia is free falling rapidly towards the ground, but the princess is not afraid in the least, she has an odd sense of security in what should be a terrifying situation. Even though the wind is loud she feels as though she can hear his heartbeat as her head rests on his chest, and entrances her in an unwavering calm.

After a couple minutes the speed in which they are falling drastically decreases and halts when they land on the ground like a butterfly on a flower.

Trojia, still embraced, looks up at Ubica and with the sunlight breaking through the clouds and shining on his silver hair, she works up the courage to finally do what has been on her mind since they first met a few hours earlier.

Trojia moves her face upwards and kisses the cheek of a surprised Ubica.

“That’s for saving my life... thank you.”

He smiles and let’s her out of his grip when he asks, “Is that how you plan on thanking me from now on?”

Flustered, her shoulders tense up when she replies, “N-No, I just felt like that was the best way to show you my appreciation.”

“That’s a relief.” Ubica replies, “As much as appreciate kisses, if you did that every time I help you going forward the others will get the wrong idea.”

“Going forward?”

Ubica takes a deep breath and looks up towards the incoming black cloud carrying the rest of the group.

“All of you are going to need a lot of help now. If I want to do good, this is my best chance.”

(PART 3)

The sight that is seen is a lush green grassland, the occasional tree, and many flowing rivers and large lakes. One would never expect that they are in a different world other than Earth. The terrain of the land is actually quite beautiful as the sun shines through the clouds onto the water and grass.

The group has been walking for hours now and there is no end to the view that the tired royals have seen since the beginning of their journey.

“Let's rest here, It’ll be night soon.” said Rage, fatigue not anywhere near apparent in his body language.

Soon after they stop the rather loud voice of Cyrus replies, “What? The sun is still high, it won’t be dark for a few hours, we should keep moving.”

Ubica hears this and replies, “We’re not in a world as predictable as Earth, no matter where the sun is there is a chance it would drop and be dark at any moment, This could be the safest place in Purgatory for all we know, but it can still be very dangerous at night.”

Silenced, Cryus hides his discontent by lowering his face further in the long neck of his coat.

“If we’re gonna stay here then, how about I go gather some water, and perhaps I can find some food by one of these lakes?” asked Tsubiri.

“You shouldn’t separate from the group, it might not be safe for you. I’ll take care of everything for tonight.” Ubica politely replied.

Ubica grabs a few of the canteens that were grabbed from the room and gets ready to walk off.

“You can handle the fire right?”

He asked this to Rage as he walks toward the nearest body of water and disappears in the haze of the rapidly setting sun.

The group gathers together to form a circle under a patch of trees and casual conversations begin to start. Napoleon walks back with a burrow of wood and places it in the middle of the circle, he then begins to rub some sticks together in an attempt to set ablaze the little bit of kindling he found.

“That’s not necessary.” said Rage.

He grabs his scythe, and with it he simply touches the pile of wood on the ground, in a flash it is engulfed in a bright flame that lights the whole area.

“I’ll make sure this fire won’t go out, so don’t worry about gathering any more wood.”

Napoleon shows a calm face but with a twitch of his eyebrow in curiosity, he asks, “How did you do that?”

Now completely dark, under the dazzling star filled night sky the group begins to huddle in their blankets to prepare themselves for the first night here. The outside living is totally new to the royals, but Napoleon and the bodyguards have experience due to training or times spent on the battlefield.

Rage is leaning on the tree with his eyes closed while the rest chat.

Upon realizing that Ubica has been gone for more than an hour, Trojia no longer partakes in conversation with the others. Lost in thought she harkens back on what he said about how it may be dangerous to separate from the group.

Thinking of the potential for the worst, Trojia quietly gets up and sneaks away from the circle and heads in the direction of the lake that Ubica was heading to.

After a few minutes of walking she encounters a hill, what she sees when she gets to the top is a view so amazing that it nearly took her breath away. The sky is flushed with the many different colors of stars that are all reflecting brightly off a large lake; a soft cool breeze blows through the moonlit grass and her blonde hair.

Mesmerized by the scene, she looks around the area and spots a Ubica's cardigan by the shore of the lake.

Trojia has yet to see any movement in the water, so panic pokes at her chest when the picture of him drowned flashes through her mind.

It's been about ten minutes, she is now pacing back and forth anxiously, becoming more and more frantic by each passing second she considers shouting out his name when the water remains still and there is no movement outside of the lake in sight.

She walks to the shore of the lake while asking herself, (What should I do?)

Tears begin to form in her green eyes when she notices the sound of bubbles popping, she looks toward the sound coming from the lake and sees the bubbles form and pop more rapidly with each second.

The water expands like an inflating balloon and then

BOOOOSHHH!!!

A huge splash is heard and water is sent flying all over; through the water one can clearly see the silhouette of an extremely large fish the size of a mid size car.

Trojia’s face is full of shock as she watches the giant fish fly towards her at a crazy speed.

Thinking she is going to be crushed she instinctively shuts her eyes and braces herself.

But much to her surprise she hears the sound of the huge fish land on the ground far out in the distance over her head.

“Trojia? What are you doing here?”

Upon seeing Ubica so casually show up, her relief is sidelined by frustration when she shouts, “You’ve been gone for so long! I was worried.”

“Eh-um... I appreciate your concern. I really do, but I don’t think now is the right time for you to talk to me.”

“Why not- EEHH??”

Trojia is taken aback when she looks down and realizes that he is soaking wet and completely naked; her face turns bright red as she pushes him away and covers her eyes.

“P-P-Put your clothes on you pervert!!!”

“Hey I’m not the one who is perverted! You’re not supposed to be here!”

“Why are you naked in the first place!?”

“Isn’t it obvious!? I’ve been swimming in the lake to find us all dinner!”

“Alright alright! Just put your clothes on already!”

“Am I not allowed to dry off first??”

With her back turned to Ubica who is in the process of getting dressed, she looks up the small hill and sees the massive fish that flew out of the water. It’s fairly apparent that it is dead but she is still slightly afraid of it, she has never seen a fish that large after all, the size of its mouth could easily swallow a human whole.

“How did you catch that thing?”

“Hmm? Well I jumped in the lake and spotted it right away; I figured that it’d be the perfect amount for everyone so I swam after it, it ran away though so I was chasing it for a while until it tired itself out. I didn’t think that the lake was so deep!”

Trojia is actually disappointed at his explanation because it seems he is trying to downplay his inhuman abilities.

“Alright I’m all dressed up, you ready to go?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Walking to Ubica’s side she looks at him dragging the large fish on the ground effortlessly, once again he amazes her, she is getting fatigued just from holding the three canteens filled with water that he brought, and she figures that the weight of the fish has to be well over a ton.

She wants to ask him how he got so strong, she wants to ask him who he really is, she wants to know everything about him, but for whatever reason she finds herself afraid to ask.

The two reach the rest of the group and they all stand to their feet when they see them.

“Princess!!! Please don’t run off like that without telling me!” exclaims Niomyo as she sighs in relief.

Ubica looks at Trojia getting scolded by her bodyguard and chuckles a little before saying, “Okay who’s hungry?”

“Whoah look at the size of that thing!!” Daey shouts.

Everyone is amazed at the size of the fish and all have something to say about it. The rest of the night proceeded just like this as they all enjoyed a huge dinner.

The vibe of the night was truly filled with no worries at all, until Niera’s elderly bodyguard broke the jovial atmosphere by looking to Rage and asking, “Now, would you mind telling us exactly what’s going on?”

As if expecting the question to be asked sooner or later, Rage shrugs his shoulders and begins answering.

“I’ll start with introducing myself.”

The group goes silent.

“My name is Rage... I am the Angel of Death.”

The power of Rage’s words sent chills down the spines of the group, even the usually calm Napoleon felt a little unnerved at this.

“The one who sent us here is named Damien, like I said earlier, he is the son of Satan the devil.”

“That sounds pretty hard to believe.” Napoleon said while rubbing his temple.

“That’s because you haven't read the bible, it was always there for you. But you soldiers were always so against it.” said the priest Phoenix Navara.

Napoleon tries to hide a grimace, to him the story was even more unbelievable then than the situation they're in now.

"That man Damien said that he killed our father, is that true?” asks Luke.

“In order to fulfill his plan, it seems it was necessary for him to kill the King. Unfortunately, I do believe your father is dead.”

Both Xavier and Luke slump their shoulders, they don't cry, even though the king is their father, they are both able to handle the thought of his death well. One must wonder just what kind of relationship the two had with him before this.

“So what is Damien planning by sending us here?” asked Napoleon.

It would seem that his king's death has affected him more than the two brothers, but as a soldier he can only control what he can currently control.

Rage shows an expression demanding the utmost attention of the group.

“Imagine how the people of your country are going to react to the death of their King, and the disappearance of their army’s Commanding General along with two of their Princes? The same thing applies to Troy and Eiyalazo, they are all going to blame each other for the vanishings. La’Juune is now in a weakened state without the leader of their army and the king of the country. The youngest Prince will be the acting King and he'll likely react instinctively.The result will without a doubt be a world war.”

“So what does that have to do with Damien’s plan?”

“I think it has everything to do with his plan, a thousand years ago Satan’s army rose from the depths of Hell and fought God’s army on the Earth’s soil... At that time, a world war was the key to harvesting enough souls to allow them to rise. But this time is different, I won’t be there to gather my share of souls and send them to their rightful place, so all the souls of the departed will easily be stolen by the Devil's reapers.”

“I don’t get it, why would he go through all the trouble to send us here? Couldn’t he have just killed us in that room?” asked Cyrus.

Ubica replies, “Damien is definitely strong enough to inflict massive amounts of damage on his own, but I'm sure he used a substantial amount of power to break the seal to get to Earth, and even more just to send us here. He wouldn't want to risk fighting Rage and I at the same time on Earth in a weakened state so he chose the easier option. But Purgatory on the other hand is a neutral world that exists independently. Damien will send countless demons to kill us. So don’t any of you ever let your guard down.”

Startled by the thought of such a looming threat, Xavier speaks, “W-Well can’t you just send us back to home? Don’t you have that ability?”

“No, I don’t." Rage answers. "I can only travel from Hell, Heaven and Earth, Purgatory is a separate world than the ones I have freedom of passage to.”

Daey, who hasn’t said much most of the night, stands up and looks at the stars while overcome with frustration at being so powerless. “So what exactly are we supposed to do then, sit here and wait for him to catch us?”

Ubica and Rage look at each other as if wondering which of them is to answer, instead the both of them end up saying at the same time, “There is a way out of here.”

The comments of the two immediately catch the attention of the group.

Beginning to grow wary of being pestered by questions, Rage explains.

“Just like Hell, there are different levels of Purgatory in which you must go through in order to escape. Whereas Hell has seven of them, there are only five in this world, if we get past the five gates of Purgatory we will end up somewhere back on Earth. It is our only way.”

Relief strikes the crowd that until just a moment ago, thought they were going to be stranded.

“Well that sounds easy enough!” declares Xavier.

Hearing this, Ubica sighs and Rage chuckles with a wry smile, the relief of the rest turns into an awkward silence because of their reaction.

Rage suddenly halts his light laughter with an eye piercing glare and simply stares at the Prince.

“This world is large, plus we don’t necessarily know where these gates are, and there is an abundant amount of dangers that will follow us wherever we go specifically to keep us from escaping. Unless you are able to adapt, I won't be surprised if you're the first one to die in this place.”

Xavier’s face turns blue and he cowers behind Tsubiri.

“Listen, this involves everyone. Some of you will not make it out of here alive, and that is a fact. So don’t be a foolish optimist just because there is a way out.”

The faces of the royals turn pale at the thought.

Napoleon, still remarkably calm begins to clarify. “So, I take it we're on the first level, and we need to travel upwards to the fifth in order to escape and put an end to the soon to be world war? This is the only way to keep that Damien fellow from being able to resurrect his father’s army of Hell and take the world over.” With arms folded as though he were deep in thought as he spoke, he continues, “Naturally there will be obstacles keeping us from passing the Purgatory gates, Damien’s demon allies will surely come for us, correct?

Pretty much exactly spot on with the gist of the situation, Rage felt like he was done explaining things for the rest of the night upon hearing that.

“That’s correct, now I believe it is time for all of you to rest. I sense that we will have quite a long walk before we enter the nearest village.”

“Village? You mean there are people here?” inquires Rudo.

Rage frowns and with a mouth full of annoyance is about to speak when he is interrupted by Ubica answering in his stead, “Of course there is. This place wouldn’t exist if there weren’t people occupying it.”

Ubica can see that the elderly man wants more of an explanation but Ubica stops Rudo from speaking again by gesturing with his hand.

“I know all of you want more answers, and you’ll get them in due time, but for now just give it a rest.” He then gestures towards Rage with a shrug of his shoulders, “Besides, you don’t wanna see him when he’s cranky.”

---

It’s been a few hours since the last words were spoken between the group, the royals and their bodyguards are all fast asleep in the thick green grass that actually makes for quite a comfortable bed. The sound of crickets, frogs, and other animals are serenading the atmosphere around the plains, rivers and lakes. The landscape is truly breathtaking as the different colors of the stars and the three moons reflect gracefully on the gentle windblown lakes that surround the area.

Despite the perfect conditions for sleep, Trojia is awakened by the sound of the firewood cracking, she slowly opens her dark green eyes and yawns gently. After a slight rub of her eyelids she looks in the direction of where she last saw Ubica sitting up against a tree, but he is not there, and neither is Rage.

She is not as worried about Ubica’s safety this time; perhaps because she is only half awake, she yawns again and readies to fall back to sleep when she realizes that when she first met Rage in the suite of the La’Juutian castle, he was chasing after Ubica to steal his soul.

She immediately jumps out of her makeshift blanket that was once a curtain in the King’s room and scours around the premises for any sign of where they went.

Walking behind a couple trees she can hear the faint sound of a voice, and after walking ever so slowly closer to its source she can sense the cold energy of animosity emitting from it.

Trojia can now see Ubica and Rage scowling at each other with a tremendous amount of killing intent.

Frightened, she hides herself behind one of the lone trees in the area; now unable to move, she has begun to eavesdrop into a conversation that she feels she might regret hearing in the near future.

“That’s a stupid request, Ubica.”

“I never said that it was a request.” Ubica replies. Rage’s face turns cold and angered as Ubica demands, “That’s right, it was an order. Keep my past out of your lips.”

With a twitch of his eyebrow, Rage swings his scythe and points it at Ubica’s face.

“How interesting, what is it that you want me to keep from them? They're better off knowing who you really are, they’d be smart not to get too close to you and your unforgivable sins.”

“Unforgivable sins, huh? Why am I not allowed to at least try to make up for them when I have the opportunity to do it? And who do you think you are to judge me? You’re not much different from me, you only have the luxury of acting high and mighty because you think you were forced into yours.”

“What I am is no secret. You have known this group for less than a day and you already want to hide what you are. There’s no point in trying to save face to strangers, it's pretty pathetic don’t you think?”

“Pathetic or not, I deserve a chance to do right by them and to the world they left behind. I won’t let you and your self righteousness get in the way of that."

Rage clicks his tongue and turns his back to him, as he walks away he says, “I won’t say anything to them about you. But, that princess you’re getting close to will become your greatest weakness, and Damien will exploit that weakness and use it to destroy you. You can try your best to keep her and the rest from your darkness, but you should know that them finding you out is inevitable.”

A black mass begins to form under Rage’s feet and he slowly rises into the air. Looking down on Ubica he says, “At the end of all this, I’m going to take your soul and all your pitiful efforts to save face will be pointless.”

Rage rides out of sight on his black cloud and leaves Ubica standing there clenching his fists.

As though releasing the tension in his hands and shoulders, he takes a soft breath and exhales slowly; he looks up at the diversity of different colored stars and softly says to himself, “Pitiful… is what I want now really so bad..? No, repentance is never pitiful no matter how little it will make up for what I’ve done.”

Trojia stands shocked and silent behind the tree, she peeks her head over only to see Ubica staring blankly into space.

(This is a good time for me to head back) she thinks to herself and starts walking back to the circle of sleeping royals.

All the while Trojia is rewinding the conversation she had just overheard in her head, her heart beating wildly at the mystery behind it. It would seem that the person she has so quickly become so fond of has a horrible secret; she can’t help but wonder what he could have done that would be so bad to where he’d go to such lengths to keep it from her.

She then asks herself if this is a secret she even wants to know?

She’s already created this image of the person who saved her life twice over in her head; to her, he is this magical savior like boy who could do no wrong. What about his past could make her not see him that way?

Stopping the walk in her tracks she realizes the answer to that question.

Trojia’s legs are moving rather quickly now, however they are not moving in the direction of the campfire.

Thinking to herself with each step she comes to terms with what her instincts are saying.

(I want to know everything about him, whether good or bad, I have to know!)

Trojia is breathing rather hard, she has run back to where Ubica is and they are both now staring at each other.

“You’re awake? You really should get some rest, it’s been a long day for you.” he said, hiding his discomfort behind a fake smile.

Ignoring his words, Trojia walks closer to him and says, “You know, I’m okay with it.”

“Okay with what?”

“Whatever you are, I’m okay with it!” Trojia declares with a flushed face.

Ubica is taken aback, and the thought immediately comes to mind that she overheard the conversation he just had with Rage.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you.” He replied while scratching his head in exasperation.

“I know that the person in front of me right now is good. I’m sure of it! So don’t torture yourself,” Trojia puts out her hand to him and looks away bashfully. “If you want to make amends for whatever it is that’s hurting you, take my hand and let’s go join the others.”

Ubica smiles; though he’s sure that she has overheard his conversation with Rage, she’s not prying into it and instead is just accepting the person in front of her for who he is now. He might feel guilty about it, and he certainly wants to keep it from her despite sensing that she is curious as to what it is that’s bothering him, but she is still standing here, her hand outstretched to him in acceptance despite it.

This person is special.

He takes her hand and asks, “Is this really alright?”

“It is.” Trojia replies, confidently leading him back toward the light of the campfire, “Because what matters is that we’re all in this together. We have a lot to look forward to!”

The End of Royalty (END)

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