A Peaceful Start

*Chirp* The birds among the crown of trees in the forest sang as Tenebris, Baron, Nessie, John, the five members of the Imperial Intelligence and Old Man Mike made their way to a rather plain, black carriage, pulled along by two fierce-looking stallions. 

They had left the Silver Guards far behind, despite their numerous complaints, whispers and disgruntled noises. Of course, in the face of the Imperial Intelligence and the 11th Elder of the Imperial Coven, Mike, there was not much they could do. 

Tenebris made use of the time they had taken walking to the carriage to think about lots of things.

He had organized his thoughts and finally came up with three important topics. 

'First off, what are the mysterious powers of the people surrounding me? How can they accomplish such things? How did the Voice manage to change my body's unique characteristics without me even noticing?' Tenebris thought as he pondered over what might be the most important matter he had noticed. Of course, one might think that the issue of a bunch of random, completely unknown people showing up somehow magically to protect a child slave and his friends all the way to the capital... might be the most important issue. However, Ten had already digested a lot of things that the Voice had told him, about his past, his bloodline and his new identity as heir of the Black Empire. Ten still wasn't quite sure how it was possible to so quickly identify him, but... 

The issue, in essence, stemmed from the mysterious powers they possessed. The ability to heal a person as if nothing had ever happened, the ability to step out of the shadows as if you're not corporeal... it intrigued Ten very, very much. 

'I must also get to know my enemies, I still do not know who I can or cannot trust... the only ones who will follow me uncoditionally are Baron and Nessie, but even a single Silver Guard would probably kill us effortlessly, let alone the people I am with now... Can I trust them?' Ten mused as he looked at his entourage, his eyes devoid of any emotion, surprise, or confusion. He simply observed as the party made their way closer to the carriage that was inside the clearing of the forest and then lowered his gaze. 

'The third issue, what is the relationship between the Imperial Intelligence, Imperial Coven and the Silver Guards? Why were the Imperial Intelligence wary against the Silver Guards? Why were the Silver Guards so adamant in accompanying us? All of them are from the Black Empire regardless, unless...'

Ten's thoughts halted as he noticed the party stopped, they had reached the plain, black carriage, which upon closer inspection, carried the emblem of the Black Empire. Tenebris immediately recognized what the emblem seemed to portray. 

'Ouroboros...' Ten thought as he studied the white serpent devouring itself amid the black background of the emblem. 

"Devouring itself... to be reborn anew..." Ten muttered as he stared at the emblem. 

John turned his head and noticed what he was looking at as he smiled bitterly. 

"Quite the meaningful emblem, isn't it? Although I'm certainly surprised you know the meaning of it, My Lord..." John said as he narrowed his eyes behind the mask.

"How wonderful, it seems the future of the Empire isn't bleak at all, with such a talented youth." Old Man Mike said as he heard the conversation. 

"Of course, of course, it seems we are not cursed by the Gods after all." John said in agreement as he nodded his head.

As for Ten, he had not muttered out loudly for no reason, rather, it was to gauge John's reaction to him, and to the emblem. 

And what he noticed from John was complete and utter indifference. John did not have a single reaction to the emblem, even the words he had said about the emblem being meaningful were empty. Rather, all his attention, was instead focused on Tenebris. 

'Is this a good thing, or a bad thing...?' 

Ten did not know. After all, he was not an oracle. 

-------

With John as the coachman, and the five Imperial Intelligence members following the carriage on five black stallions, which Ten did not know where they came from, the entourage set off. 

Mike, Baron, Nessie and Ten sat inside the rather spacious carriage, delicacies and a warm pot of tea on the small table in the middle of the carriage. 

"Mike, will the journey take long?" Nessie asked, seated opposite of Old Man Mike. Of course, Mike had already told each of the children to call him Mike as he hated the lengthy titles like 11th Elder of the Imperial Coven. 

"Well, it will take a while, after all, we are quite, quite far away from the Capital. We will have to camp for many nights. Of course, we can use that time to learn lots of things." Mike answered with a smile on his face. 

"Could you tell me about the geography of the Black Empire and where we are currently?" Ten asked. 

Miked raised his eyebrows for a second, before lowering them again and answering.

"Of course, I can, and I will. Although I am not the most skilled scholar, every member of the Imperial Coven has a good understanding of the Empire." Mike said with a calm tone.

"Right now, we should still be in the outskirts of Cordia. Cordia belongs to the South-Eastern corner of the Empire, under the Obsidian Reach, ruled by the 'Von Ordene' noble family. Right now, we are quite literally at the edge of the Empire, the Obsidian Reach borders the Hollow Ridge to the South, and the Forbidden Sea on the east." 

"What's the Hollow Ridge?" Ten asked curiously.

"Well.. I would explain it, but it will take far too long to explain its origins that date back to the Genesis. All you need to know for now is that the Hollow Ridge is perhaps the most dangerous land in all of Astaries."

"In any case, north to the Obsidian Reach is the Black Sand region, ruled by the 'de Monfort' noble family. We will not be passing there, although, our journey will go through the region that borders the Obsidian Reach to its west and north-west, the Wycliffe region, belonging to the 'Wycliffe' noble family."

"After passing through the Wycliffe territory, we will go to the north-west again and enter the Grimwood Forests, where the Imperial Coven Tower is located. We can stop there to resupply or get anything we need for the remainder of the trip."

"Finally, after leaving the Grimwood Forests region, we will travel directly west, reaching our destination, the Nightstar Falls, where the Imperial Capital and the Imperial Palace are located."

Mike finally finished speaking, as he had realized he had rambled on and on about things that the three kids would probably not understand. 

And, fitting his expectations Baron and Nessie seemed a bit confused and probably overloaded with information.

Tenebris, however, seemed like he had not gotten enough water albeit dying of thirst. He yearned for more information, and that was evident in his eyes. 

"What can you tell me about the other territories of the Empire?" Ten asked. 

Mike pondered for a second before he answered.

"Well, sure, there are not many left to mention anyways. As I said before your highness, the Obsidian Reach is a territory that borders the Hollow Ridge. There are two more territories in total that border the Hollow Ridge, namely, the Wycliffe region which we will pass through, and the Lanchester region, ruled by the 'Von Lanchester' noble family. These three territories, make up the Southern Strip, a place that bares the grunt of all attacks that come from the Hollow Ridge. North of Lanchester, are the Grimwood Forests, which I mentioned and to the north-west, lies the Montfort region, ruled by the 'de Montfort' noble family. Both Lanchester and Montfort are directly in contact with Aurorium, but we will learn about that later." 

"Is Aurorium not part of the Black Empire?" Ten asked curiously. 

"Of course not, Aurorium is a different nation, my child, although they do have very good relations with us. Where was I? Ah, yes, Montfort. The Montfort region is directly south to the Nightstar Falls. To the north of Nightstar Falls, lies the Northern Tundra, ruled by Marquess Laurent d'Arcy, Supreme Commander of the Black Empire. While it does have direct access to the Northern Sea, the Northern Tundra region does not utilize that access, as it is a perpetual mass of ice, snow deserts and death. East of the Northern Tundra, and North-East of Nightstar Falls, lies the Storm Cliffs region, ruled by the 'Neville' noble family." 

The elderly man paused his explanation for a bit, as if he seemed to be remembering something deep into his life. He refocused his gaze again as he sighed and continued his explanation.

"And finally... deep into the Northern Sea, is the island of Pandemonium, ruled by the Pandemonium ducal family." Mike said with a somber tone.

"Pandemonium? Why's it named Pandemonium?" Ten asked curiously, the name was clearly something that isn't commonly used, along with Mike's unusal heavy and somber tone, it definitely piqued Ten's interest. 

"Pandemonium, is more of a description for the state of that place, after all, it is the most dangerous and chaotic region in all of the Black Empire. Pandemonium is the gigantic island in which the Black Empire ships off all its high-security prisoners to. Prisoners of war, arrested nobles, traitors, political enemies, terrorists, terrific killers, psychopaths, rogue Tainted, and more.

For that reason, the Pandemonium Ducal family is the only noble family in all of the Black Empire that is allowed to have the title of Duke or Duchess. They are the ones that manage and safekeep that wretched place. They have done so, are doing so, and will continue to do so until the Empire falls." Mike finally finished speaking. His mood was visibly affected as his hands trembled slightly as he spoke of that place. 

'Is it really such a horrific place?' Ten thought to himself, however he soon picked up something he had missed. 'Rogue Tainted? What are Tainted?'

Just as Ten was about to ask Mike what Tainted are, he heard Nessie say:

"Ah, these lessons are too boring, can we do something else Uncle Mike?" Unknowingly to Ten, Nessie had decided to transition to calling the old man, Uncle Mike. Well, despite his thirst for knowledge, he had to admit that the entire explanation had taken a bit over half an hour, and the carriage seemed to be well past Cordia and now close to the border of the Obsidian Reach.

"Yes, yes, I have no doubt that you three must be very tired, take some time to rest and feel free to eat some sweets or enjoy the black tea." Uncle Mike said with a smile as he leaned his body back and closed his eyes, trying to sleep, it seems.

'Isn't he just tired himself? What a shameless old man.' Baron thought as he chuckled to himself.

Soon, the carriage quieted down as sleep took over Nessie and Baron too, leaving Tenebris to stare at the scenery outside of the carriage.

Despite its name, Obsidian Reach, the region was actually quite colorful and lush with vegetation, farmland and the territory was characterized by a black mountain that stood impenetrable, unhindered by the passing of time. It was still visible all the way where the carriage was. Soon, Tenebris lost himself in thought and recollection of his past life.

—————

"Cassius, you must remember, what makes a man is not his words, what others think of him, or what he is called. A man is characterized by his actions, how he thinks of himself, and his self-awareness."

A handsome man with blonde hair and a beard spoke gently as he caressed a crying child's head full of blonde hair as well.

"He's just a kid, it's normal for him to get upset because other kids bullied him." A woman with chestnut hair and a blurry face said gently with a smile on her face, as if she had no worries that her child would get affected over this.

"Yes, but our Cassius must be strong, right?"

"Yes, dad…" The child stopped crying as he raised his head and looked at his dad. "I will always be strong!" He said with a comical expression as he squeezed his father's hand.

————

"Look at that, how can a child not cry during his own father's death?" A loudmouth said as they stared into the distance at a child standing in front of a grave, the raindrops falling on him felt as if they were stones.

"Tsk, tsk, it's all because parents nowadays show no love to their kids, how can a child cry for someone that they don't love?" An old man with an ugly face said.

The child heard the numerous conversations around him, but paid it no mind. He heard his mother a bit farther away, on the phone crying and asking adamantly about how she was going to afford the house, the funeral, the debts.

The child paid it no mind either way. He looked at the casket being lowered with cold eyes as, as the two cemetery workers shoveled dirt into the grave.

He did not cry.

His father's warm hand felt as if it had returned and was holding him tight yet again.

He did not cry.

His father's encouraging words rang through his mind again.

He did not cry.

Till the end of the funeral, to the moment they got into the car and his mother started driving, he did not cry.

He did not cry even as his mother kept sobbing and repeating senseless words uncontrollably.

He did not cry even as the rain got heavier and carpeted the land as if it was a divine punishment from the gods.

The boy stared absentmindedly out of the car window as he saw the bustling city far off in the distance, and the numerous bright lights, along with the high rise buildings.

But he was not there.

He was here, where the car drove, where the birds chirped, where he saw a father and his son playing with a football as they laughed.

He was here, where the rain fell yet did not flood the land. He was here where life did not carry you away like a strong current. He was here where family was the most important thing.

And he hated it. He despised every moment of it. He despised every single thing that reminded him of his father, and so,

The boy sobbed. He sobbed and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed until there were no tears left to shed.

And the only thing that remained was hunger and ambition.