1 Intro

13 years ago...

It is a quiet and peaceful night. Ajax has just finished his bleeding ritual in a personal magical pool and now is returning back to his quarters. No sound except his own barely audible footsteps can be heard throughout the empty castle this late. The walk itself should take at least some minutes for him to actually reach his destination since his home was equally split in two halves with only way to enter each being the throne room at first floor. Descending yet another flight of stairs after maneuvering his castle's limitless dimly lit corridors at the guest wing, and after same dose of wandering the halls, he finally comes to a spacious area filled only with numerous chairs and various maps covering a single large table in its centre. The room is located directly above the throne one below. It also doesn't have any access to the castle's familial wing of since the only way is right beneath. Or that's what peasants like to think. Why wouldn't the lord create some secret passageways to help himself move more comfortably inside his own home's walls?

Ajax forces a sliver of blood out of his finger and starts drawing the contours of a hidden door at one of the walls. Soon enough the actual one appears and lord of the keep simply moves straight through without any need of opening it. The door then proceeds to vanish into nothing.

As always, on his way back Ajax goes to his daughter's suite to check if she is sleeping or not, but this time while nearing it he hears soft cries coming from there. Panic hits him hard, filling his head with the thoughts of assassins who were able to avoid his over the level detection and protection magic. When the lord barges inside he sees no traces of any distress. At least from the room's look that is just as it always is. The cries are coming from her favourite spot which is two big cushion armchairs overlooking the beauty of night forest and sky full of stars above it through the wall of glass. From his angle he cannot even see her small eight year old form which is hidden behind the back of her seat. There is also a candle lit on top of a small table in between the chairs. With the light one can see an open book lying there. From the looks of how it most likely was wildly thrown there, the source of girl's distress was found.

Ajax slowly, as if not to startle, makes his way to her. The sight when he's finally gotten there breaks his heart. There, curled into a ball, hugging the knees close to her chest with small arms as well as burying the head of long golden locks is his daughter. Quickly scooping frightened girl in his arms he asks softly:

"Airee, dear, what happened?"

"I-is th-this t-true? T-that I'm the monster who is gonna destroy our wo-world?" A panicked stutter escapes girl's miniature mouth. Her words shock him to his very core.

"Airee, that's nonsense. You never were, not are or will be a monster. Where did you get it from?" He has his suspicions but better let her reveal what's troubling that little head of hers herself.

"See? You are calling me Airee, not Zara, because you simply can't say my real name! And it's the forbidden one, isn't it? I'm the monster the book mentions!! You told me to never say my real name to anyone and called me Airee. Is this cause you are ashamed of me, father? Who wouldn't?!" Her screams started to tune down by little until she continued only in barely heard whisper. "To have a monster for a daughter. I don't blame you for it though. It's my fault after all. I'm sorry." The girl became deathly still after that. Probably not even breathing, obediently waiting for her father's verdict.

He alters their positions so that she is now sitting in his lap with himself in her previously occupied chair.

"Airee, look at me, dear." Ajax commands in a soft tone. When her strikingly green eyes meet his black ones, he continues: "You are not the monster and will never be one. Throw that thought out of your head. What is told in this or any other books you can find is a complete rubbish. To tell the truth, you are gonna be our saviour, this world's hero. Please believe me on this because I saw these books being written as well as personally lived through what they describe." Finally seeing his daughter at least a little stable, he picks her in his arms and carries Airee to the bedroom. "When we'll set you to bed, I'll tell you the real truth behind our Father-emperor."

"Promise?" Ajax almost missed this practically inaudible hope filled plea.

"Promise."

***

The bedroom, done in white and creamy colours, wasn't too big or extravagant but still had its notes of wealth. A large king-sized bed was placed to the wall opposite of a door. Several dressers on the sides as well as a few windows with rosy curtains on the right of it. Meanwhile the left side of the bedroom, from bed's perspective, was remade into a small dressing room full of closets and wardrobes filled with clothes. The walls had several pictures of various animals held in intricate frames.

Airee was already lying in her bed under its numerous sheets, after all it was the middle of one of Hidian's harsh winters with a raging storm outside, while Ajax was sitting right beside her. Now that the girl has calmed down, an excitement on her young face was palpable. She always loved her father's stories but soon will find out that this one is not gonna be as enjoyable and happy ending as others. Yet, for her own safety she had to know.

"Ok, we can start now. Do you know how the magic was born?"

"Of course. The God Ares descended on earth many years ago bringing the gift of magic with him and giving it to humans."

"Why exactly do you think it was Ares and not Father-emperor Antares?"

"Isn't Ares is just short form of Antares? Like a nickname of something?"

"And that's, my dear daughter, is one of the first lies you've been told. Years ago a God indeed descended. It happened when Harmakhis' Order was on the brink of being wiped out. It consisted of the criminals wanted throughout half the world. All of the members were some of the best warriors the world has ever seen and they believed that their only God helped them achieve their numerous victories. God of war Ares. That day the last surviving 244 priests and soldiers hid to hold the last defense inside of an abandoned temple of Ares. It was located at the very end of a cliff high above the sea below. Half of the initial city the temple was built in had already crumbled down due to waves slowly washing away more and more of the cliff. Before the final attack by Greek armies could actually happen, the skies lit themselves with red, the blood started to rain down on earth. And with this the forgotten temple with all its captives had finally succumbed to the abyss below. What actually transpired that day is that real Ares was killed by Antares. It was his blood that painted the sky."

"So Antares is actually a bad guy who killed the God for his power?" Inquired curious Zara.

"You catch up on fast." Praised his daughter Ajax and rewarded her with a pet on the head. "This day of first December is now known as the Birth of Magic. The current dates all started their count from that exact day. Do you know how actually the magic infused itself with our society?" Zara was a prodigy child that has already engrossed herself in a mission to learn as much about this world and it's magic as can be humanly possible. Ajax is sure that in time the students of her own age apply for mage academy, she will already be a fully qualified mage-knight.

"From what I've read, that day every living being, be it animal, plant or human, received a portion of God's magic. It, in return, interveined itself with their very life in process making it impossible to survive without. That's how Father-emperor dealt with convicted the day of rebellion. He just strategically let them die from the lack of magic. What I don't understand is how they could survive without it before?"

"You are rushing a little ahead of the story but I'll answer. How do they survive right now without it?"

"They bind themselves to willing mages and in a sense share their magic at the cost of making the other weaker."

"Good. The reason why they survived then is the same as why convicted continue on living now."

"So you want to say that they started binding themselves even then? How come so many died due to lack of magic if the way to survive was already known? And no one else knows this for sure because the official date of inventing bind magic is during rebellion and not Celestial War."

"No one knows this now because no one knew it then. Except..."

"Except Father-emperor!!! But if he was the only one who knew, how did he manage to pull it off? Since one mage can bind himself only to one other person, then there surely had to be tons of others. How did he manage to keep it secret. And convicted should have known about it before the rebellion started and not after if each of them was already personally bonded to a mage."

"Listen here carefully, Airee. Never, and I repeat: Never underestimate Antares."

"Nooo way... He actually did it by himself... That's some scary powers... To think of it that even the rules of magic don't apply to him..."

"Now let's get back to the story. That day someone else was born."

"Blood-keepers!!!" Immediately exclaimed suddenly excited girl. "You were born that day!!!"

"Well not exactly, but you are correct. Those 244 people who had fallen were kept alive and given the blood of a God, making them immortal in the process. After that they became the blood-keepers we know now: elite generals and commanders loyal to their one and only God. Yet at first they didn't know his true identity. Antares introduced himself as Ares. Only later during the war the truth was revealed by one of the other Gods. Until than, with the help of his followers Antares quickly united the lands under his name, taking the title of emperor. Without much knowledge about newly acquired magic, people couldn't resist the trained soldiers and commanders that filled his armies. When all the earth was his, he orchestrated the show of many instances when Gods had been neglecting them, and easily persuaded the others to start the pursuit of war against so called Celestials."

"So, Antares was the one who waged the war and not humans or the Gods themselves if to believe some other sources?"

"Not exactly. He was the mastermind behind the scenes, slowly pulling the strings to stir both sides into the direction he wanted. Human's greed and God's distaste for the magic people started to posses was indeed some of the main reasons it happened. But why this dispute ended in violence without any tries to negotiate was fully on him. On 12th December in 24ABM taking the title of Father-emperor of magic and it's everlasting protector he started the war to honour countless requests sent by his people."

"Wow. He is cunning." Once again Ajax marveled at kid's innocence and simplicity. This was one of their main traits which makes them so adorable.

"More than you dare to think. Later during the war, the truth about Antares' origins revealed itself. Our Father-emperor is actually a piece of broken heart belonging to the Scorpion."

"What scorpion? Is this the name of some God? Or is he the reborn beast?"

"The legend says that Orion boasted that he will kill every animal on earth. The goddess-hunter Artemis with her mother, Letto, dispatched a Scorpion to kill him. After it won, Zeus sent it to the skies. Yet he also saved a piece of Orion's soul, placing it on the other side of said sky. When he obtained all his previos strength and through many hardships finally reached the Scorpion the battle ended to be fatal for both of them. But a sliver of scorpion's heart survived. Its heart, usually appeared as the brightest star in a Scorpion's image was called Antares. A little piece then grew into the God we know now. Born from hate and betrayal, angry that Zeus saved Orion that day, he swore to carry out his revenge. The first victim happened to be Ares, the one who trained Orion in his second life to be able to kill Scorpion."

"What happened next? After you all found out that he wasn't real Ares."

"At least half of us didn't care. They usually said that if he was strong enough to kill God of war, then he was qualified to be their leader and a new God. At the same time others had been displeased. Me either but I didn't voice my objections. I've already seen enough of Antares at that time to be afraid of going against him. That day twenty seven blood-keepers died by his hand. After that no one opposed him and kept their opinions mostly to themselves."

"That's harsh. To pretend to be someone else for so long to only gain their loyalty and then when the truth comes out use force to make others comply."

"To gain something they desire some people are capable of horrible things. Gods are not an exception. Back to track. The war continued on for centuries. Generations of people passed and the progress was only so little. It was decided to create a perfect weapon against Gods and in July 611 the idea behind convicted was passed out the first time. On September 17 in 656 the first convicted were born. Yet, even with magic immune weapon now at his disposal, the war still continued on for nearly two hundred more years."

"Father? How strong the Gods are if they were able to last so long even against armies of convicted who were immune to their magic?"

"Antares is a God, and even then, without all the power stolen from others, he was able to bring magic to everyone on earth. Now imagine fighting a war against hundreds of enemies like him?"

"Then how was he initially able to fight them alone and even keep winning?"

"Due to lots of lies, deceit, brilliant use of tactics and of course his own powers. He simply knew how to play a war. Do you still remember when the last God fell?"

"Hmm. It was the same year as the revolt. That means year 829, right?" With a nod from her father she tried to remember the exact date. "I remember the revolt which happened on 14th of July... And it occurred only several months after the victory. I think it was two! Two months after the victory of humans! That will take us to May. Sorry but this is as far as I can go. Don't even ask the exact date..." There, in front of him was sitting a happy kid with a silly looking grin on her face. Staring at her for while, Ajax realised at this very moment that he would do anything for her and her own happily ever after.

"26th of May, year 829ABM. The day of great victory. Due to eight hundred years of what is now known as Celestial War, out of initial 244 blood-keepers, left was only 137. Yes, after the war, convicted turned their backs on Father-emperor and waged their own war thinking their immunity made them indestructible. And they indeed were, at least to some extent. Normal mages were useless against them and they continued to easily win countless battles and very soon were marching to last God's fortress. On 6th November of the same year Father-emperor found himself completely surrounded by armies of convicted. That day the world itself fully changed to what it is now."

"The biggest spell cast in all the history, right? So called Great World Alteration."

"Correct yet again. Gathering all the magic he obtained during Celestial War from other Gods, Antares sacrificed most of it to change the world itself bases on his visions and fantasies. In an instant all the water has been gone. Lakes, rivers, seas and even oceans were completely dried out leaving limitless deserts in their wake. After that the whole earth shook, and countless unending ravines started to cover all of it. Every single one was bottomless. Soon enough they started to fill with water yet it wasn't just any water. The one that took its place in the new rivers was nearly black abyss-like water which is still there up to this day. At the same time his fortress was separated from the rest of the world by a huge pit with diameter of nearly four kilometres. It as well got filled with water and now is known as Black-Wake lake. The everlasting night is always present over it and it's shores. The island with his citadel started being called The Crown of Command. At the same time, right opposite of Black-Wake, on the other end of the world appeared similar lake yet with a neverending day. They started to call it White-Lake. It is said that this lake's abyss water is the lightest in shade and the least polluted by emperor's magic."

"Is it really true that all the rivers and lakes are indeed bottomless and connect with each other underground? So that if someone is capable, he can swim right through the earth and emerge at its other side?"

" Yes, the rivers and lakes are indeed all connected with each other and do not have any bottom surface at all. There also are a lot of unknown monsters lurking inside it. That's why it is not recommended to swim in them. What is known now as abyss water is basically a water full of negative magic belonging to the emperor. It's also his main weapon and it indeed killed most of convicted armies that surrounded him that day. Of course there is a spell that cleans the water and makes it drinkable, this is also how several 'clean' lakes were created. The abyss also sucks away ones magic, that's another reason of why it's so dangerous. During Celestial War this water also served as one of the main weapons to kill Gods."

"Okey, so after this convicted retreated because the lake wasn't allowing them through. And soon most of them found their en-aaaaaahhh-hhaaaa?"

"Looks like someone got tired from the story." Smirked Ajax at yawning Zara. The girl indeed was tired, but he knew that she would not go to sleep until she got her answers. Looks like the lord will have to speed up this history lesson a little bit.

"Noo, aahhhh-haaa... I'm not, aaahh-hhaaa... tired at all, ahhhhh..."

"I'll try to finish faster so our little princess will have her beauty sleep. You need your rest after all. Now... Where did we stop... Got it. After the fall of the leader of first convicted Marcus on 25th February in 830, the peace was somehow returned to the land. That was the day the regions were officially distributed between blood-keepers based on their achievements during Celestial War. Another interesting think also occured. While casting his global spell, something happened to Antares which now actively prohibits him to leave the confines of Black-Wake up until now. That's why nowedays only his spectral-white ghost form can be seeing wandering the earth instead of him. It usually emerges from abyss which with the fact that it's located everywhere allows him to actively monitor his empire. On 12th December in 1089 the Alliance between surviving convicted and rebellious mages was officially formed with their capital being White-Lake City. This day they proclaimed their independence and immediately started numerous campaigns against Magical Empire. Due to hard and bloody battles and countless losses, emperor created his own new type armies and called them mage-knights. They were specifically trained in the ways of how to kill convicted. The official day of their birth is unknown but their first appearance soon followed by swift and easy victory is somewhere in September 1139. That's why September is considered a Mage-knights' month and most of main events associated with them are held during it. The Alliance fell on second May in 1145. After that no major world history altering events occured. That is, if you don't want to touch blood-keepers' politics and their territory wars, of course. On the current day there are 99 of them still alive. Only thirteen were actually killed by rebels. Others fell by the hands of their stronger comrades."

"So, what is with the prophecy dictating I'm a monster who destroys this world? From what you told me and compared to information in most of the books, I am now starting to believe it's also a lie? And why did you call me a hero?"

"Precisely! During the Celestial War there was a God named Janus. It was said that he had two faces which could change into a blink of an eye due to his ability to see into future and past. He was a God of beginnings, gates, time, doorways, passageways, duality and endings. What actually picked Antares' interest was this saying: "Janus presided over the beginning and ending of conflict, and hence war and peace." Because of that, Father-emperor visited him to see how and when the conflict will end and, most importantly, in whose favour. There he saw himself kneeling in front of a young woman with a long blonde hair clad in silver armour with a sword through his heart. His one last word was the name of said woman."

"Zara..." Came quiet whisper from his left. Her eyes glossed with unshed tears. Mind somewhere unknown. Ajax decided that the best way would be to simply continue.

"Antares believed that we build our own destiny and any prophecy can be changed. So he used another global spell to forbid people the ability to even think of that name so that no one will ever name the child with this exact name. A perfect plan until the convicted were born. That's most likely why he kept them on such a tight leash and never allowed any families of theirs to emerge. It's believed that even after all that he still had a plan B to simply make people forget about that name all whatsoever. Since no one can say or even write it, through generations even the existence of it vanished. As a result, none of the convicted could name the child with a name they didn't have the knowledge of themselves. Everyone still knew about the spell but the actual word had been long forgotten. But somehow someone by mere luck named their kid exactly that. And when other mages couldn't even think of it, the hope of rebellion flew to the skies and above. That's why the Alliance was born. During this period convicted started constantly naming their kids with it. But when all of them got killed, in the end not finishing the prophecy, mothers became more cautious and for the sake of their children practically fully stoped using the name. That's when you come into play. You are the only mage in history that can say the name. I genuinely know, not believe, but know that you are the one. There is surely going to be a lot of hardships in your way. But if anyone can finally stop over millennium years of tyranny, it'll be you, princess. One day you will become as strong as Antares himself and until then I'm gonna protect you with my life. I'll do my hardest and everything in my powers to help you on the way to your destiny."

"But you are one of them. Why help me kill him?"

"Remember when I said that not everyone of us agreed with him? There are even more out there. Not a lot but there definitely are. We operate very simply, we try to let rebel's escape as much as possible, the a blind eye on some of their schemes, leave them to their own problems and don't cause unnecessary trouble for each other without risking of being suspicious. Sadly I do not know who the others can be. We operate exclusively on our own since there is a big chance of Antares' spy just pretending to support convicted. The risks are too big for us to try and find each other."

"I see..." Poor girl, all this information today is probably overwhelming for her. She needs her rest and think this all over in the morning.

"Okey, dear. Story time is over. Now sleep." And with a peck on her head and the wish of sweet dreams Ajax leaves the room.

It's far in the future but for the sake of this world's happiness Antares must die...

"It's only the beginning..."

Ajax of Hidian...