The Knights

Tenebris ran with all his might, as the lingering tone of the Voice led him to become anxious, his heart rate increasing steadily. 

He noticed, however, that somehow, he could see perfectly clearly, even inside this pitch-black tunnel. By any normal means, he should've been running blind, yet he wasn't.

'Was this what it meant by constitution modifications?' Ten questioned in his heart, but he did not slow down, he only kept running as the tunnel got brighter and brighter, the end of it was near, clearly, as the only thing that could brighten up such a dark tunnel was the sun. 

He could not spare his thoughts for anything else other than running right now. If the situation was truly as severe as the Voice said, then he would rather tire his body out by sprinting the entire time, than be caught by whoever was looking for him.

But as the saying goes, fate is blind. Blind indeed. Tenebris was just about to get to the end of the lengthy tunnel, which was painted white from the light of the sun outside when his heart sank. 

The moment he stepped foot outside, the blinding light in the sky made him put his hand up to shield his eyes. After a few seconds, he quickly opened them to see a sight he would have never wished to see. 

In front of him was a group of men, tall, fierce, bulky. They wore shining armors of what seemed to be silver, with Ten's poor understanding of this world's ores. They carried sheathed swords on their waists and backs and carried themselves with grace and alertness. 

'Knights...' Ten thought to himself as he stopped running. Where could he run to anyway? The area where the tunnel was located seemed to be a downward slope, running down would surely result in either him being caught immediately, or tumbling forward and rolling down to his death. 

Running upwards was not even an option, he would get tired before he even made any significant progress. So, Ten did what any smart man in the field of politics did, he surrendered. 

'At least thirteen knights in front of me... there are a few to the right, but they're far away and moving, can't spot their number.' Ten thought as he walked forward with vigilance. If he put his hands up or did anything out of the norm, the knights would notice. 

After all, which child who just survived a mine collapse would be wary of fellow people who might be able to help him? 

"Hello?" Ten said out loud as he glanced at the faces of the knights before him. 

"Hey there, kid." A rather tall knight, who had a black eagle marking on his chest, contrary to the rest of the knights, stepped forward and greeted Ten. 

"Come here, we won't hurt you, we just want to make sure you're safe." He said with a kind face and voice, although his eyes could cause a lake to freeze over. 

Ten reluctantly stepped forward as he paid attention to all of the men seemingly staring at him, he saw one of the younger-looking knights whisper to his fellow knight. 

"Think that's him? Black hair.. golden eyes. It's gotta be him!" The young knight whispered carefully.

The older knight, who looked much more solemn, instead shot him a fierce glare and ordered him to shut up.

"Keep quiet!" He whispered back.

The young knight shut his mouth reluctantly and turned his gaze towards Tenebris again. 

Of course, in any other circumstance, Ten would not hear this extremely quiet conversation. Yet he did. Whether this was because of what the Voice had done to him, or the result of the adrenaline and heightened alertness, Ten did not know. 

'My description.. golden eyes... this must be what the Voice was talking about when it mentioned my eye color... How? How could they know beforehand? There's something that I don't know about.. how did they do it?' Ten's thoughts struck like lightning as he considered the possibilities of how they had managed to get Ten's description after the fact that his eye color had changed from the usual dark brown to a lustrous golden color. After all, this change had only happened when he met the Voice, no one knew about this except him. 

'A coincidence? No, it can't be, at this place, at this time, and that accurate description... if this is a coincidence I'd rather believe pigs can fly.' Unknown to Tenebris, pigs in this world, could, in fact, fly. 

"What's going on? I'm scared..." Ten put up a pitiful expression as he expressed fear and shock at what had happened. 

"Don't worry, kid, we're here to make sure you're safe, we've even found 2 of your friends, come on, I'll carry you." The leading knight said as he approached Ten closer and picked him up, placing him in a piggyback. 

The knight of course, despite the heavy armor on him, did not find it difficult to carry a skinny child at all, even his sword seemed heavier than Ten. 

'So they've found 2 children... is it Baron and Nessie? Since they were the closest to me, they must have survived, because I'm still alive.' Ten thought as he picked apart the knight's words. 'He's carrying me to make sure I don't have the mind to start running away...

Is he vigilant, or does he know that I know?' 

The group of 12 knights and their leader, who was carrying Ten, made their way around the slope and after half an hour had reached the work site, the same place where Ten had eaten breakfast, and where the mine entrance was located. Now, although, the entrance was as good as never having been there, the rocks had filled the entire passage and a few had rolled over farther, filling the area with broken rocks and piles of dust. 

Soon, he spotted 2 more groups with the same number of knights, both had 13. 

In the middle of the two groups stood an old man with a rather plain but exquisite brown robe, a cane supporting his body as he stood a bit hunched. 

Close to the old man, stood two children. 

'Baron and Nessie!' Ten recognized them immediately, Baron's tall stature could rival an adult, and Nessie's pretty face could not be missed. 

Ten's group approached closer and closer as they finally regrouped with the rest of the knights. 

The leading knight put him down as he stepped forward and spoke to the old man. 

"We found him at the north-western tunnel exit." The leading knight spoke as he gestured towards Ten. 

The old man smiled amicably, surprisingly, this man had no malice nor coldness in his gaze, only the eyes of an old man who pitied the child before him. 

"Child, you must've been scared... and you're all dirty and hurt... let me fix that for you." The old man said as he raised his cane, tapped it hard on the ground twice and muttered something indescribable, which even Ten couldn't make out. 

Ten seemed puzzled, a confused expression on his face. However that expression soon changed to shock, and from shock to amazement. 

A gentle force, which Ten couldn't make out if it was wind or something else, covered him as all the grime, dirt, stains of black and the dust piled on his hair disappeared, making him seem like he had just gotten out of the most luxurious bath he had ever taken back on Earth.

His figure had finally been cleaned up properly for the first time in 4 years ever since his mother had died. Nevertheless, it was quite obvious that Ten was an extremely handsome boy, his new, golden irises only added to that. 

Ten could only exclaim out loud as he saw his injuries rapidly healing next. 

"Ah..?" He blurted out.

"Surprised, aren't you?" The old man asked and smiled again. "Let me introduce myself again, I'm Transcendent Michelangelo, but you can just call me Old Man Mike." He said as he patted Ten's hair. 

"Ah... yes, Sir Mike, but.. what does Transcendent mean?" Ten replied awkwardly and questioned, he had still not gotten over the shock of what had just happened. 

"No need to call me Sir, kid! I hate those pretentious titles anyways... as for what Transcendents are... well, it is a very, very long explanation, so I'm afraid the answer for that question is going to have to wait." Mike said with a warm tone, his voice was neither fierce nor authoritarian, it had a tone to it that only grandfathers could replicate. 

"Alright then.. then can I ask what's happening?" Ten questioned again as he looked up at Mike, his pleading gaze touching the old man's heart strings. 

"That, my child, I can answer. We came here today with a mission to retrieve you, although we didn't expect this mine to collapse... the people you see here are the 7th Battalion of the Silver Guards, they serve the Imperial Family of the Black Empire. As for me, I am the 11th Elder of the Imperial Coven, Michelangelo." Mike said as he spoke slowly but clearly, in a manner that Ten could understand. 

As Mike finished speaking, the leading knight of the group who escorted him, who Ten learned was part of the Silver Guards, came forward along with two other men and bowed slightly and respectfully, his palm touching his chest as he rose up and spoke. 

"I am Sven, Captain of the 1st Squad of the 7th Battalion." Sven spoke, his gaze still cold, yet his face amiable. 

"Greetings, I am Roland, Captain of the 2nd Squad of the 7th Battalion." The man in the middle named Roland spoke, he was the shortest of the three men, but his gaze had an imperceptible fierceness to it which made anyone he looked at feel uncomfortable. 

"You can call me Jacob, kid! I'm the Captain of the 3rd Squad of the 7th Battalion!" A man that was as tall as Sven, but much bigger in terms of muscle spoke with a booming voice, he was smiling widely and his tone wasn't exactly respectful, but Ten didn't feel any disrespect from him, and he didn't feel uncomfortable from the man at all. 

'Sven, Roland, Jacob... the most sociable one of the three is obviously Jacob.. Roland doesn't seem interested in this at all, while Sven seems to have ulterior motives...' Ten thought coldly as he analyzed the three Captains of the squads. 

"Hello, everyone, I'm Tenebris, but you can call me Ten!" Ten said with a smile on his face. Of course, with Ten's skill, even the most proficient psychology analyzer could not tell whether his smile was fake or not. 

"Sorry, Mike, can I meet my friends now?" Ten asked as he looked at the two children who were standing a bit farther away, Baron and Nessie had smirks on their faces as they glanced at Ten.

"Of course." Mike said as stood aside. Ten walked forward and stared at the two for a bit. Then, he walked up closer and firmly hugged the both of them. 

"I thought you guys were..." Ten said as he almost cried. Despite how inhuman he could be, these two had been there for Tenebris for a good part of his current life. They had eaten together with him, slept with him, worked with him. They were his family through and through. While Ten did not trust anyone except himself, he felt that these two were the only people he couldn't afford to lose. 

"We wouldn't go anywhere without you shrimp." Baron said with a smirk as he ruffled Ten's hair and hugged him back, meanwhile Nessie simply started sobbing and hugged him. 

"Alright, alright... I missed you guys." Ten said with a smile on his face. Soon, though, he whispered something in Baron's ear. 

"Baron... make sure you're ready to run away with Nessie or attack someone on my signal... these guys can't be trusted." Baron kept the smirk on his face as his brows furrowed a bit before returning to normal, as if he never heard a thing. Nessie kept sobbing and didn't hear any of it. 

Ten let go of the hug before returning to Mike again. As soon as he was about to speak, however, Mike and the three Captains immediately turned their heads to the woods nearby the worksite, the dense shadows cast by the tree slightly flickered as the four men's expressions turned extremely sour and surprisingly, frightful. 

In an action that seemed almost impossible, six men, dressed fully in black, the raven black cloaks covering their bodies, making it impossible to discern whether or not they had weapons on them suddenly exited the flickering shadows as they walked forward. A plain white mask covered five of the men's faces, while one of them had a white half-mask, his mouth and chin revealed for the world to see.

The rest of the Silver Guards also tensed up as they subtly placed their hands on their swords, maces and shields. Old Man Mike also gripped his cane with more force as his face grimaced.

"What are they doing here..." Mike muttered as he narrowed his eyes, his carefree and benevolent aura from before was replaced by a cautious and anxious stance. 

"Mike? Who are they?" Ten questioned as he gazed at the six men approaching slowly. 

Mike did not answer, and simply grit his teeth as he spared Ten a glance then resume to stare at the approaching men. 

Of course, Ten had assumed they were men, it was unknown whether or not they were actually women or men, only regarding the person with a half-mask, Ten could be sure that it was a man.

They approached closer and closer before finally stopping just 5 steps away from Tenebris. 

The six men ignored the gazes of the other people completely as they looked down at the handsome boy who had been covered in dust and grim just a few moments ago. 

Suddenly, in an unforeseen manner, all of them knelt on one knee as they said calmly: 

"The Imperial Intelligence greets the future star of the Empire." 

"Huh?" 

Ten exclaimed loudly as stared at the six people in shock. 

'Imperial Intelligence... The Black Empire's intelligence agency? Why are they here?' Tenebris questioned in his mind. Even if he was a genius of unmatched intelligence, he could not figure out why the Imperial Intelligence had come here, at this time, at this place. Before Ten could speak again though, the man with the half mask spoke in a gentle yet solemn voice while still kneeling. 

"My Lord, we are here to take you, and your companions to His Majesty." 

Before Ten or the half-masked man could speak again, however, Sven, the 1st Squad Captain, spoke. 

"What's the meaning of this? Orders from the Imperial Palace were clearly that the Silver Guard was to escort the child to the capital!" He barked out as his gentle act disappeared and his cold nature surrounded his entire demeanor. 

"The Omniscient Eye has seen it fit that the Imperial Intelligence are to escort him instead, therefore we have been dispatched in order to avoid any... unforeseen circumstances." The half masked man said this as he flashed a glance to Roland, the 2nd Squad Captain before focusing his attention back on Tenebris. 

"May I have the honor of knowing your name?" The man asked. 

Ten hesitated for a bit before he answered, "Well, yes, I'm Tenebris, those there are my friends, Baron and Nessie, and you?" 

"You can call me John." John answered as he rose to his feet, along with the other 5 people. 

"Are you comfortable with me providing you and your friends a change of clothes? It seems the Silver Guard is highly careless to your wellbeing..." John said as he shot a fierce glare to the Captains of the Silver Guard and to Mike. 

"Sure, I'd appreciate that." Ten said as the 5 people behind John swiftly moved, forming a circle around Ten with their backs facing him as John provided Ten a set of gold and black colored clothes made of high quality wool, which he had only once seen a wealthy slave merchant wear once before. Ten took off his rags and put them on as the process was repeated for Nessie and Baron. All of them now had golden and black colored clothes, Nessie of course looked much more different in her dress that seemed made for everyday use, yet still stunningly beautiful. 

'How'd they even get our sizes right...?' Ten questioned in his mind, only to be added to the rest of the unanswered questions in his mind. 

This time, though, he felt that it wouldn't hurt to ask John, this man who didn't seem too cold nor too gentle. 

"John, how'd you get our sizes right?" 

John smiled mysteriously but gave no answer. 

"Alright then..." Ten said dejectedly, his attempt at getting information, again, useless. 

"I'm assuming we're going to depart soon, John? Are Mike and the Silver Guards coming with us?" Ten asked as he adjusted the clothes on his body. 

"Of course not, my Lord, the Silver Guard and Transcendent Michelangelo are going to return to the Imperial Capital by their own means, in their own journey."

Hearing this, Mike and the rest hurled a number of words to John that Ten could barely make sense of. 

"How can you guarantee his safety?!"

"Are you sure you can take the responsibility if something happens to him?!"

"How dare you act so rudely in front of the Silver Guard?!" 

The only one who remained quiet was Roland, the short man who was watching with an indifferent gaze, staring at John. He let out a turbid breath as he sighed and narrowed his eyes.

John, meanwhile, continued to keep the same smile on his face as he calmly faced everyone abd spoke slowly. 

"I can assure everyone that the Imperial Intelligence is more than capable of ensuring his safety." 

The five people around Ten, Baron and Nessie snorted as if mocking the Silver Guards for even thinking of such a thing. Ten, on the other hand, had never forgotten that these people who had come to take him, were the enemy the Voice had warned of. Not once had his guard fallen down as he observed every action the two parties were making, and clearly as it seems, these two parties were at odds despite both being from the Black Empire.

Ten felt that even after such a catastrophic event, he seemingly still couldn't gain the freedom he craved. Free from the shackles of being a slave, free from the people before him who talked about him as if he was property, an object, or some sack of meat. He was tired of it all. 

Ten hid his frustration as he smiled again and turned to John. 

"John, what are we doing now?" 

"There is a carriage waiting for you and your friends, My Lord, we will escort you to it, and along your journey to the Capital. We will make sure that your trip is as carefree as possible, with absolutely no issues along the way." John said while bowing slightly and offering his hand to Ten. 

Before Ten took his hand though, Mike approached. 

"I must pass my farewells unto the child." Mike said with a rather grim expression.

John frowned slightly before nodding his head slowly. 

Mike approached Ten and crouched down in front of him as he pat Ten's head and spoke softly. 

"You must go now, child, I unfortunately cannot come with you during this journey. I can only wish you a safe trip." The old man sighed as he closed his eyes. 

He opened them again with a resolute gaze as the words he said next stunned Ten.

"Remember, you are the master of your own fate. No matter what, you must be fierce, and ruthless... for our future." 

Ten thought for a long while before he finally nodded. His plans and estimations unknown to the old man, who only saw a pitiful child before him. 

Ten turned to John as he spoke with a determined voice. 

"John, who am I?" 

"I cannot answer that at the moment, my Lo-" 

"Then to what extent can I request things from you, as the person you must protect?"

"Of course, you can request anything you want, as long as it is within our capabilities," John answered with a smile. 

"Then, I want Mike to come along with me." Ten said as he made his request, his eyes unwavering. He knew that the person named John was not keen on having other people tag along, however, Ten needed a bargaining chip to ensure his safety, and that bargaining chip was the old man, Mike, whom even the Imperial Intelligence seemed to treat with respect. After all, out of the 39 Silver Guards and 6 Imperial Intelligence members sent out, the Imperial Coven had only sent one person, Michelangelo. 

That goes to show that Old Man Mike wasn't someone to f*ck with. 

"That..." John hesitated before Ten's determined eyes before he finally sighed and relented. "That is fine, however, the Silver Guards cannot come with us, that is not something we can discuss." 

Ten smiled at the old man as he thanked John, he had never wanted the Silver Guards to come with him anyway, something about them seemed off. 

"Well, I guess you can come with us now, Mike." Ten said to the old man, who for some reason seemed surprised, and mostly, touched. 

"I thank you for your trust, my child. I'll make sure I stay by your side." The old man who seemed touched by Ten's action replied, placing his wrinkled yet warm hand on Ten's shoulder. 

"Well, shall we set off?" Ten asked as he looked back at John.

He was only a 9-year-old child, faced with the countless mysteries of this world, but if there was one person who could accomplish the impossible,

It was Cassius.