1 This world...

A long, long time ago, the gods created a world to rule over, a place where all races would live. They created the dwarves to lay fertile, and fruitful land. They created giants to sculpt vast and towering mountains and deep, endless chasms. They created elves to spread life and bless the land with deep forests and fruits. They created fishfolk to spread the deep, blue oceans. And finally, they created humans... to inhabit the world.

The other races grew furious with the gods. "Why must they, who did nothing for this world, get to live so freely in it!" They spat.

The gods ignored the words of the foolish mortals but that was their fatal mistake. The other races banded together and declared war on the gods, ripping them away from their seats of power on Mount Olympus. After a year the four races had won and drove the weakened and wounded gods into hiding, leaving no trace they ever existed.

After claiming Olympus the four races cheered and laughed but that too did not last for the giants, full of greed and selfishness, annihilated the other races. One by one each race followed the footsteps of the gods, disappearing until it was only the humans left.

The giants created another kingdom for humans, where the giants would rule through a puppet, a figure called "The King". And so two empires now stood on the empty world, devoid of all life it once had during its creation.

One day, The Oracle of Delphi came before the twelve giant siblings who had claimed the twelve Olympian seats, bringing with her a prophecy that would send the world into chaos.

She pointed to each of the giant siblings and said. "What is stolen shall be reclaimed, endless blood will flow until the thrones disappear, those that have vanished shall emerge and with their last breaths you… shall disappear..."

The giants, in panic, began hunting the gods to no success. Until one day they started hearing rumors of 'gifted' humans being born. Humans that were able to bring rain, bless the land, or even make flame. When the giants inspected these humans, they realized that they held the powers of the gods. Furious and afraid, the giants began executing any 'gifted' humans born, be they a child, adult or elder. However, what they did only brought their fate closer....

***

Step! Step! Step! The loud footsteps bounced off the walls of the stairway. They stopped once they reached the top, an open balcony overlooking a green countryside, next to another pair of feet. The balcony had several grey, stone pillars supporting a conic roof that stretched above. If you walked too far forwards you would be met with a nearly hundred foot drop. Two men stood around one of the pillars, staring at the green countryside, now covered in the dark purple blanket of night.

"The battle against Hippolytus… is it over?" asked the man leaning against one of the pillars.

He stood at nearly seven feet tall and was wearing a black, shiny, leather jacket with a black clothed hood over his head. The jacket was decorated with skull shaped silver rocks around his wrists and on his chest. Underneath, he was wearing a simple white t-shirt, torn and singed from combat. He had on black pants that were stuffed into his black, calf-height boots. Around his waist was a brown, leather belt that sagged to his left, and sitting on it was a sword who's blade was as black as night and radiated death. On his fingers he had rings, fashioned from bones of small animals, matching the necklace that hung around his neck. He had shiny blonde hair that stood out from all the black but blended in with his pale skin, and cold, hazel eyes.

"Yea… took longer than we expected but it's over..." The man who had just climbed the stairs said grimly as he continued to stare at the countryside.

He was a head shorter than the other man and was wearing a black skin tight t-shirt underneath, the type you'd wear when going to swim, and a red and yellow flowered, loose shirt on top. The skin tight clothes continued down to his ankles, until they reached a pair of black, shoes, perfect for running. Under his shirt he wore a nice pair of singed, light brown shorts. With his brown, sunburnt skin, it looked like he had just come from the beach. Around his hips were several small canteens, some completely empty, while others partly full. Strapped to his back was a sleek, leather sack that was once full of water, now completely dry. He had dark brown eyes, which almost matched his long black, surfer's hair that was highlighted with white strands. His black and white striped goatee completed his look, making him seem like a famous actor, born during an unfortunate time.

"Who did we lose…?" The bone-jeweled man asked, knowing that answer already.

"Lucas… ten casualties in total, nine survived… because of Lucas..." The Swimmer replied.

"That's three down… nine more to go," The bone-jeweled man pushed himself off the wall and looked at the swimmer, "Have we found the child yet?"

The swimmer slowly took in a breath and turned to face the other man, "He's living in the capitol..." He stared at the dangerous look in the other man's eyes.

The bone-jeweled man suddenly took a step forward and grabbed the collar of the swimmer's shirt. "Why isn't he here… why haven't you taken him to train yet?!" He glared, black flames shimmered in his eyes.

The swimmer batted his hand away and returned the look. The ground around their feet started to crack as what looked like small hands started climbing their way out. The water in the canteen sloshed restlessly. "He's ONLY five!" The swimmer said.

"It doesn't matter how old he is… we've all sacrificed a lot to get to this point, and we'll need to sacrifice more in order to get further," The bone-jeweled man said coldly, "A childhood is nothing compared to the lives of the people around you!"

"It's something we all gave up..." He trailed off.

The swimmer clenched and grinded his teeth. As much as he hated it, the other guy had a point. They would never win without the help of him, and it was something that he would have to learn about one way or another. "Fine!" He finally said. The tension died as the hands disappeared and the water relaxed.

"I'll visit him tomorrow!" The swimmer said as he turned around and started heading down the stairs.

"You better..." The voice trailed off.

The swimmer turned around to see the shadows around the pillar darken before returning to normal as the man who once stood there vanished. He looked unsurprised, after already seeing this many times, and continued walking down the stairs like nothing had happened.

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