1 Caesar Velis

"Surrender. Join The Emperor, or you'll die here and now."

A breeze wafted through the quiet streets of Asyrienn. Shopkeepers and establishment owners were starting their days as always. Even though there weren't many customers, workers managed to make a living. Cafes, bars, stores, bakeries, and restaurants opened. They waited patiently for the rest of the town to wake up.

The activity in the town was close to none. Only a few people swung by, most of which picking up a few groceries before disappearing. That's how most of the days were spent. Eerie, is perhaps the best word to describe it.

A noticeable thing is that the majority of the people are well over sixty years old. It was unusual for anyone to get out of Asyrienn. People are born in Asyrienn, they grow in Asyrienn and they die in Asyrienn. The cycle goes on, with no one having ambitions to explore what's outside the town.

Even if one were to explore, there was nothing special outside. The town is thrown in the middle of a large, wheat field that is seemingly endless. There were said to be roads connecting the town with the rest of the world, but they were well overgrown with wheat. So much so that the main road was starting to break down.

There was a man who was against the way of Asyrienn's cycle. He wanted to leave the town, move to a bigger city, and maybe get a job along the way. His name was Caesar Velis, a 20-year-old who was about to start his day.

Caesar slowly opened his eyes, flinching a little as the sun greeted him with its bright rays. He did find them annoying, but he couldn't possibly change how the sun works, could he?

He sat on his bed, gathering energy so he can finally go on with his day. Nothing interesting was going on inside of his bedroom. Only a few shelves with books on them, a large-sized bed that can fit around 2 people on it. Another bed was in the room's right corner, it was smaller, seeming to be the fit of only one person. Caesar slept on the smaller bed, while the large one was left untouched.

A few photos were hanged on the walls of the bedroom, they were of a man, a woman, and a young, blonde kid with dark bluish eyes. The couple's faces were full of wrinkles, their hair was mostly grey, with only a few blonde hairs here and there. They were old, too old to be the parents of this kid.

He finally stood up, taking a glance at the pictures before starting to make his way to the bathroom. After he finished, he paced over to his bedroom once again. Caesar opened his laptop, which was placed on the only desk in his room. He checked through his e-mails, letting out a sigh as he read a specific one. 'Mr. Velis, your pick up to Lunaris will be delayed until next month. Sorry for the inconvenience.'

He closed his laptop, going over to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Maybe he'll re-read that fantasy book he likes so much. Or he'll take a walk outside, greet the same people he's been greeting for the past decade of his life. The options were limited, but he still had to somewhat prepare.

Caesar washed his pale skin, his face wrinkling a little as the cold water splashed on his face. His hair was a light blonde that was packed together in a rather messy way. He used a brush to fix it together. His haircut wasn't anything special. No fades, no spikey strands, nothing unique.

Caesar got a white shirt on, alongside some blue jeans. He looked... Plain, to say the least. He left the house, locking the doors behind.

Caesar's house was a two-storey one. While he didn't use the entirety of the second floor, it wouldn't hurt him if guests come by.

He took a left from his house, walking for almost 3 minutes, before reaching a small, water fountain. Four benches surrounded it, which were left collecting dust. "Lively..." he muttered.

He dusted off one of the benches, settling down with a sigh. A few minutes have passed by, and Caesar was already dying of boredom. The more Caesar stayed there, the more he felt like ages had passed. This is exactly why he wanted to move out.

As he gazed at the sky, Caesar could hear a few steps a distance away. They only got closer and closer. Eager to see who it was, Caesar redirected his gaze towards the steps. He saw a man wearing a dark coat, while his face was quite hidden.

"Hello?" Caesar had greeted.

The man stopped. He threw Caesar a small smile, while purposefully revealing a part of his face. His skin was pale, much like Caesar's. He idly nodded, before he proceeded to brush by Caesar.

Caesar didn't know how to react. An odd person... but this was also... creepy. He watched the man as he left the town square. Once he saw him out of the scene, he got up, trying to hurry back to his home. Caesar knows everyone in Asyrienn. This man's face was not close to anything he's seen before.

As he tried to stand up, he felt sudden back pain, followed by an intense burn. It wasn't long until the burn intensified. He looked down at the chair to see if anything was there. But nothing proved dangerous. The chair was free of anything that might burn one.

Caesar scanned the area with his eyes, making sure that no one was around. He walked over to one of the windows, taking a look at his reflection to see what was going on. He slightly lifted the back of his shirt to get an idea of what's going on.

And that's where he saw it.

A mark of a circular shape was visible on Caesar's back. It had one small circle within it, making it appear as a sort of doughnut. And finally, a partially opened triangle inside of the smaller circle. The mark itself was of a bright, red colour which began fading away into black, almost as if it was settling in. Caesar stumbled back at the sight. He held his head, trying to remember where he got this specific tattoo. Asyrienn was devoid of tattoo artists, let alone anyone who wanted tattoos anyways. He doesn't remember getting any the night before either. But this wasn't all that happened.

Caesar's train of thought was cut short by a clear, very different voice. The words were hard to make sense of, it only sounded like relentless mumbling. The gibberish came to a stop before the voice gave out two orders. "Find them, Velis. Kill The Emperor." Is what Caesar heard. Caesar sprung back onto the bench by instinct, furiously looking around to see the source of this... voice. Caesar took in a few deep breaths, he needed some time to take in and process what had hit him. This was too much to take in for a man who had woken up. He sat on the side of his bed, trying to gather as much as he can and connect the pieces. But it all made no sense, his tattoo, the burns, the odd voice. He wasn't able to make any logical connection. The only explanation he could come up with was that the man behind the voice, whoever it was, gave him the tattoo. But... Why him? And what's the meaning of this tattoo? Who was the 'Emperor'?

Suddenly, he felt the burning sensation begin rising once more. Almost as if he was getting ordered to move immediately.

The fact that he was getting burnt so often did nothing to calm him down. Was the man that walked by part of the reason? "I... I..." Caesar mutters. He wasn't able to form any coherent sentences, in fear that he might get burnt if he does.

He took in a few deep breaths, trying to maintain his composure. Taking in the facts with equanimity was difficult. Especially for someone who spent his whole life walking around a dead town and reading books.

The burning sensation had vanished. It didn't even go through a 'cooling' process. This made Caesar a little more stable. He didn't know what to do, or how to start looking for 'them'. Who even are 'they'?

Caesar turned around, looking back at the reflective glass. He stared at himself for a few seconds, making sure that nothing else was affected. For a brief moment, his eyes made contact with his reflection.

As soon as he did, Caesar felt something crawling on his shoulder.

Caesar immediately jumped as he felt the crawling. He spun around, seeing no one else around him. He reached a hand to where he felt the crawling. It was on his left shoulder, and he was sure of it. He felt a slimy, sticky substance on his shoulder, and somehow, it was... moving.

Caesar grabbed the 'substance' and slowly opened his hand, taking a glimpse at what was behind. It was to his surprise, a caterpillar. The caterpillar happily sludged on Caesar's hand. Caesar hated insects, and his immediate was to hit it. With his other hand, he hit the small insect.

Instead of splattering and disgusting fluids spilling all over his hands, the caterpillar... melted. It melted into one, homogenous, colourful liquid. It sept through his hands, falling onto the ground and disappearing.

"W-what...?" Caesar mumbled in disbelief. He was so sure that that's not how caterpillars worked. Before he had the time to react, Caesar could see a dog walk by, right around the corner. A... dog? After living for a little over 20 years in Asyrienn, this was his first time seeing a stray dog. The dog stopped in its tracks, looking wary of something. It twisted it's head over at Caesar and began to... close its mouth, and open it again. It was mimicking the act of barking... but without any actual noise.

The dog suddenly ran towards Caesar, it's mouth wide open. The dog's steps made no noise, yet dust kicked up from the ground as it ran forwards.

Caesar, as much as he was bewildered, ran away from the dog, instantly going in the opposite direction. But he wasn't able to outmatch the dog, and evidently, it caught up to him. But instead of getting bit, the dog phased through Caesar. It ran through Caesar, almost as if he didn't exist. Caesar ceased to run, trying to realize what just happened. A dog... just phased through him...

"I..." Caesar muttered, watching the dog closely. "How..." He added. The dog stopped running, before turning back to Caesar. It started barking again, without noise.

"Oh... No- no, no. This... This can't be true..." He mumbled. To make sure that he wasn't hallucinating, he knelt, grabbing a small rock. He tossed it over at the dog. The rock flew through the air, yet it also phased through the dog, making an impact on the floor rather than the dog. Caesar raised his eyebrows, slowly walking over to the dog, making sure his vision was alright.

He hesitantly tapped the dog. Before he made contact, the dog vanished.

Caesar backed up, but just as the dog disappeared, he could hear a car engine from a few meters behind him. A car? In Asyreinn? What!? No one had cars in Asyrienn. With curiosity and fear getting the better of him, he spun around. The car was getting closer and closer to him, and finally, before Caesar could see what was behind him, he got hit.

Or... that's what he thought. A few seconds after the impact, Caesar opened his eyes, yet nothing was here. No cars, no drift marks on the streets, nothing that gave evidence of a car ever existing. "I-" Caesar stumbled back, falling onto one of the benches. Was he hallucinating? If so... why? Did the man who passed by do anything to him? Was he the reason behind all of this?

Questions were racing through his head, all of which had no evident answer. He needs a drink... and 'The Lion's Den' is the best place to get one. He stood up, starting to head east. He'd occasionally trip, before using the wall to support himself again. He hoped that a drink might calm him down.