Prologue 1. Cerulean

"Where did Lady Salika run off to this time..." Silva grumbled in his gravelly voice. "The carriages are supposed to leave in FIFTEEN minutes but it looks like she's still gone to pursue 'more important' things!"

That day, Silva went with Salika on a trip to Monjee Village so she could run some errands. It was already the beginning of the evening and she still wasn't at the designated meeting spot.

Silva was an extraordinarily tall and lanky man, standing at an impressive 195 centimeters and 70 kilograms. His dark, slicked-back hair was starting to become gray in some patches, despite still being only 22 years old. Every day he wore a butler's suit.

Just a couple of months back he was selected by the Kratian Capital to be Salika's servant, and couldn't be any more excited. It was a rare and honorable thing to be selected by the Capital to serve any high-ranking individual, and even rarer to be selected as someone who serves anyone in line for the throne. Things would, unfortunately, take a turn for the worst however after discovering that Salika's mysterious and unpredictable personality led to many difficulties during the job. These included miscommunications leading to more tasks being redone, no communication at all, or borderline mental abuse.

"I wish Lady Salika was just honest for once, even if just for a second. I wouldn't have to be so inconvenienced if she did!"

Another half an hour passed and the sky became a darker orange.

"Tsk, I doubt she'll be here any time soon," Silva said reluctantly. "Maybe I should just look for her."

Just then, a middle-aged man holding a crate of yellow fruits walked past Silva. An idea appeared in his head and he walked up to the civilian, grabbing his shoulder with his tight grip.

The civilian had a confused look and turned around to face Silva. "Do you need something?"

Silva put his hand in front of his mouth and cleared his throat. "Have you seen a short girl recently wandering the town, about this tall?"

He motioned his hands slightly below his chest to indicate Salika's height.

"She has long, pure white hair, and squinty purple eyes?"

The man raised an eyebrow as Silva described Salika's appearance, unsure as to what he was talking about.

"Right now, she's wearing a white skirt and blouse," Silva continued. "If you've seen her, it'd help me out tremendously."

"I don't think I've seen your daughter anywhere in town today, sorry," the man said, turning away from Silva and walking off.

"She's not my daughter," Silva said, grabbing the man's shoulder again. "I'm her personal servant, and I wish you didn't assume I was her father."

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say, mister." He walked away from Silva, carrying his fruit.

Silva sighed, gazing down at the stone ground. "Who would want to be the father to such an emotionally stunted child anyway."

He covered his mouth and let out a yawn, before walking down a stone road.

In the span of an hour, Silva searched the alleys separating the shops, encountering thugs trying to rob a man, then searched the town square, and finally went back to the carriages to see if she had finally come back or not.

"Of course she's not here," he said, putting his hand on his forehead. What did I expect, she's always late for anything."

Silva continued searching and searching but the results stayed the same. The sun was starting to set, and he finally gave up in the middle of a random street.

"God damn it," he said, sighing.

Suddenly, a certain establishment's sign caught the corner of his eye. It swung back and forth in the wind as it hung on the side of the building. "Monjee Monster Pub."

"Quite the strange name if I do say so myself," Silva thought to himself. Then, an idea popped up in his head. "It wouldn't hurt to get a drink or two as I wait for Salika to come back from whatever she was doing..."

Silva walked up to the pub and opened the door leading inside. It was a poorly lit but cozy place, with framed paintings of ogres, goblins, mermaids, dragons, and other creatures.

"Welcome to the Monster Pub!" The bartender shouted, cleaning out a glass with a cloth.

Silva walked in and took a seat on one of the stools at the bar table.

"Give me a kirk beer," Silva ordered. "I'm not in a good mood right now, so no small talk either."

The bartender gave an annoyed look. "I'm sorry, but kirk beers can only be ordered after church services. If there's anything else you'd like I'd be more than happy to make it for you-"

The sound of clangs was made as coins hit the table. Silva had slammed ten silver pieces in front of the bartender.

Coins were the ideal currency used pretty much universally and were named after the metals they were made out of. The lowest to highest valued coins were copper coins, followed by silver coins, then gold coins, and finally orich coins. The orich coin was special, as it was mostly made out of gold, but had small amounts of a rare ore named orich, giving it a unique orange color.

"Bump it to fifteen silvers," the bartender said.

Silva slammed another five silvers on the table. "Whatever, take all my money if you will. Just stop talking to me and give me my kirk."

The bartender smiled, quickly snatching the silvers. He turned around and began to prepare the kirk beer.

He added normal beer made out of barley into a large mug and added a drop of kirk, a red powder made out of ash and other herbs that were used in religious recipes. The kirk dissolved in the yellow beer, causing it to fizz at the bottom and turn into a muddy brown.

"One kirk beer being served," the bartender said, turning back to Silva to hand him his drink.

Silva picked up his drink and licked his lips before taking a sip. A blissful look appeared on his face as the flavors spread across his taste buds.

"The day I die is the day I get sick of this buttery, creamy delicacy of a drink," Silva said to himself. "The gods have good taste choosing kirk beer as their beverage of choice!"

After the first sip, he quickly gulped down the rest of his drink.

"Another kirk!" Silva shouted. He dug his hands into his pants pocket and slammed on the counter another fifteen silvers.

One drink turned into two, and two drinks turned into several. Silva became drunker and drunker after every drink, causing his eyes to appear droopy. The bartender was starting to run out of kirk for the beer, which caused Silva to get upset and complain like a child.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to peacefully leave our establishment-"

"Shaddup!" Silva said drunkenly, breaking the glass mug. "Give me the last of your stock, or else I'll... I'll... I'll vaporize you with my magic!"

The bartender sighed, putting down his dirty glass. He simply left the bar table and began to head to the back of the pub.

"Pub is closed now, please leave, goodbye," he said.

"Don't you dare leave before giving me my kirk beer, you bastard!" Silva shouted.

The bartender closed the door to the back of the pub and disappeared for the rest of the night.

"Tsk, who does he think he is," Silva said. He knocked over his stool and stomped out of the pub, slamming the door loudly behind him.

He decided he needed to rest somewhere and headed to the town square. He almost tripped a couple of times; most likely due to his drunkenness, and almost ran his head straight into a few shops. He finally made it to the town square and sat on the edge of a fountain.

A sick feeling suddenly arose. Silva's face started to turn pale, and his stomach began. He bent his body over and held on to his stomach as it rumbled violently.

"This isn't good..." Silva mumbled.

He turned his body and looked down at the water in the fountain, puking out almost all of the kirk beers he just had. It made the water inside the fountain turn nasty murky brown.

Suddenly, Silva felt a strange tingling sensation on the back of his neck. The hair on his arms began to flair, giving him goosebumps.

"This isn't a good look for a royal servant, wouldn't you agree?" A feminine voice said.

A face of horror appeared on Silva's face as he turned around to look at who was talking to him. A pale girl with lengthy white hair, a white skirt and blouse, and squinty purple eyes stood in front of him. She held a small brown pouch in her right hand. To his surprise, it was his master, Salika Kratia.

She had been following him ever since he left the pub.

"You could get into serious trouble y'know," Salika said in a monotone voice, staring coldly at Silva. "Drinking on the job, disobeying your master's orders... Who knows what the capital will do to you if I send a report about your actions."

Silva slid off of the fountain's ledge, falling onto his knees.

"I'm sorry!" He pleaded. His head was against the ground and his hands conjoined in the air. "It won't happen again! It's just that you were taking so long and I needed a break, so I had a couple of drinks!"

Salika looked over the fountain, noticing the disgusting mess her servant had just created.

"A couple would be lying," she said. "Seems like you had your fun. I'll also include dishonesty towards royalty in your report."

Silva stayed on the floor quietly, accepting his fate. In his mind it was already over for him, so arguing back was meaningless.

Salika sighed; her face still expressionless. "Get up, we're leaving now."

Silva looked up from the ground, still feeling the pressure from Salika. "B-but we can't... It's too dark out, it'd be dangerous to travel back to the capital... There are probably bandits out there too-"

"Who said we were leaving for the capital," Salika said in her dull voice. "I've booked two rooms at an inn. We'll sleep there until morning and immediately head straight to the capital afterward. You can stay there and sleep outside if you want though... In fact, maybe you should."

She walked away from Silva unremorsefully, leaving the town square. Silva quickly got up, almost tripping on his foot along the way, and caught up to her.

Silva fixed his movements so that they were a lot less drunk-like, and did his best to maintain good posture despite still being a bit tipsy.

The two of them were now walking together down a dark, empty road to the inn. All the lights to the previously open stores were off, making it slightly difficult to navigate. Only the moon's natural light was able to give them their vision.

"So, uh, what took Master Salika so long," Silva said nervously. "You, uh, didn't tell me the specifics of your trip to Monjee village besides the fact that you were running errands, so I was wondering if you'd tell me now so I better understand..."

As the two were walking, Salika brought her right hand up to Silva's face, showing him the stuffed brown pouch. She shook the pouch, causing a rattling noise.

"What's that supposed to be...?" Silva asked, moving his head back slightly so his face wasn't centimeters away from it.

"Guess," Salika responded, still shaking the bag in front of Silva's face.

Silva continued looking at the pouch in front of his face, trying to figure out what the contents inside were. Suddenly, a pungent smell from the bag flooded his nostrils.

"Gyaah!" Silva yelped, moving his head back even further and pinching his nose to get away from the smell. "Is that cattle feces?!"

"Is that your final answer?" Salika asked, putting her right arm back down to her side.

Silva began coughing into his hand, unable to get rid of the smell from his nose. "I'm sorry Lady Salika, but please don't pull such pranks on me..."

"It's not a prank," Salika said, her voice still expressionless and bland. "It's my medicine."

Silva's coughing began to fade away. He recovered and stood up straight. "What else did you get after you made me wait by the carriages?"

"This is it, I just needed to get my medicine," Salika responded.

"You're kidding, right? You took until after dusk to get some medicine?"

He looked at the brown pouch again. "The medicine doesn't look like it's stored properly either... Did you at the very least make sure a different drug wasn't swapped in? It could be dangerous."

"It's medicine for something that happened to me a while back, and the vendor here is the only one who sells it in Kratia," Salika said. "As you can probably tell, they're not very responsible when it comes to time management."

"You could say that again," Silva said. "I wish you'd be more trusting with me and brought me along with you. I am your servant after all, I should have some knowledge of your business."

"I should have trust in someone who disobeys their master's orders and goes off to drink?" Salika said condescendingly. "You must mistake me for a fool to think I'd trust someone like that."

Silva cringed upon hearing this. "It won't happen again; I swear it on my name!"

Although Silva didn't necessarily like his master's personality, it was considered a great honor to work directly under someone of royalty. He took pride in this, and did whatever it took to maintain his title and job, even if he messed up a couple of times (however, this time he didn't know how he'd get away with drinking on the job).

Though all the lights in Monjee Village were out, one was still shining dimly. In the distance near the outskirts of the village was a building with lights shining through the windows.

"Straight ahead, the Majesty Inn," Salika said, pointing her finger at the building. "That is where we will be staying for the night."

Silva squinted his eyes, concentrating so he could see the inn through the darkness.

As the two got closer to the inn, it became clear that it wasn't a well-kept place. There was a broken window patched up with planks of wood, tall weeds growing in the lawn, and vines climbing along the exterior wildly. If it weren't for the sign that read 'Majesty Inn' hanging above the entrance, it could've been mistaken for an abandoned building.

"Lady Salika, perhaps you brought us to the wrong destination..." Silva said disappointingly. "This building looks like it hasn't been in use or even touched in years!"

"It was the only place in the village I could find," Salika said. "I had no other options."

Silva sighed. He watched as Salika opened the door to the inn and followed along behind. He was too tall for the doorway and had to crouch down to get inside.

The inn was dimly lit by multiple lamps lining the walls. Scattered tables were present throughout the space, and a bar table that served as both a reception desk and a food service area was located across from the entrance. On the left side of the room, a set of old wooden stairs led to the upstairs lodges.

"The next time we head out somewhere, I'll make sure to find better lodging beforehand," Silva said as he looked around the room. "One that'll suit someone with royal status."

Salika ignored what Silva said and walked over to the long bar table across from the entrance.

"The inn's owner doesn't seem to be here at the moment," Silva said. He looked around the inn again trying to look for them.

"Quite the observant one are you," Salika said.

She had a habit of being a smartass to people and had a difficult time understanding that it wasn't a very appealing or likable trait.

Silva, although annoyed by this, was already used to her useless remarks. He leaned his head over Salika and noticed a paper on the table in front of them. The paper had a list of names with empty boxes next to them showing who has and hasn't signed in. So far from what he could see, not a single person on the small list had signed in yet. He then noticed Salika's name at the bottom, which also had a box next to it.

Salika stuck her left thumb out and pressed it against the box beside her name. The box began to be filled in with the color green just from her touch, registering her stay within the inn.

"This inn doesn't have an owner," Salika said. "It's entirely operated by magic, so it knows how to take care of itself for the most part."

"It must not be working properly considering how horribly kept the place is," Silva said, sliding his finger on a table, picking up dust.

Salika began walking over to the inn's stairs, maneuvering herself between tables and chairs.

"I got us separate rooms, your room is A-7 and I'm room A-10," she said. "Goodnight."

Silva nodded, walking behind Salika. The stairs creaked loudly as they headed up.

Salika opened the door to her room. It was a small and cozy area with a single lamp on the wall lighting up the place. In the left-side corner of the room was a small dusty desk, and in the right-side corner was a small white bed. A rectangular window was on the wall in between the desk and bed, along with an old brown rug that was on the floor.

She entered the room and placed her brown pouch with medicine on the dusty desk, and looked out of the window, admiring the tall mountains in the distance. She then took a seat on her bed, before laying down on it shortly after.

Suddenly, depressing thoughts took over Salika.

"When will this feeling go away?" Salika murmured to herself, staring up at the plain ceiling.

Something was haunting her mind, causing her a feeling of extreme discomfort. She turned her head over to the desk, staring at the brown pouch. The haunting had been going on for a while now, and the medicine in the brown pouch was supposed to help suppress it. She was to consume a gram or just a small piece once a week, no later and no earlier.

Salika got up and leaned herself over to the desk, trying to grab the pouch of medicine.

"Come on... Almost got it..."

She struggled to try to reach for the pouch, but eventually managed to grab it with her fingertips. She held it in her palms and looked down at it, frowning.

She opened the pouch with her right hand, causing a feces-like smell to fill the air. She plugged her nose just like Silva had when he smelt it for the first time.

"Here comes the hardest part... I don't think I'll ever get used to doing this..."

She slowly reached her fingers inside, grabbing a small, blood-red mineral, and gulped. She opened her mouth, placing the mineral inside hesitantly, and began crunching.

Salika's right hand covered her mouth as she forced herself to eat the medicine. She gagged, almost throwing up, but managed to keep it inside her mouth.

The taste of the medicine was significantly worse than the smell. If it had to be described, it'd be like the taste of vomit that came from a goblin who only ate its excretions.

The lingering taste of the medicine remained in Salika's mouth but was manageable for the most part. Normally, drinking water would help eliminate the taste, but the vendor who sold her the medicine told her to refrain from it as it diluted the medicine.

"I'll see you in a week," Salika said as she tied the pouch of medicine, placing it back on the desk.

Immediately after putting away her medicine, she laid back down on her bed and drifted off to sleep. That day for Salika felt long and arduous. She definitely needed to find a new vendor for her medicine if they were going to make her wait that long.

Just as she was losing consciousness, the howling of a creature echoed in the skies, causing Salika to jolt up from her slumber. Her eyes became wide like a startled animal.

"What the hell?"

What came after was an almost ear-rupturing explosion, causing the sky outside Salika's window to suddenly light up and turn blue.

Salika covered her ears and quickly got up from her bed to look out the window. In the mountains was a sky-blue pillar of light that touched the skies, lighting up the entire village and everything else surrounding it. Trees that were originally in the mountains but were removed by the explosion began flying into the village, crashing down on buildings.

Salika watched in awe at the beautiful pillar of light. Suddenly, a rock came into sight, appearing bigger and bigger as it got closer to her window.

She watched as the rock flew through her window, breaking it and landing on the brown carpet.

A powerful gust of wind entered Salika's room from the broken window, causing her long white hair to fly wildly. She covered her face from the wind.

Salika looked out her window again from her bed. Her heart rate tripled. The sky became even brighter, making the inside of her room turn blue. She had seen something like this happen before, perhaps in a textbook or in person. Tales and epics of a disgraced race.

"It couldn't be... That pillar of light... A Cerulean...?"