CHRONICLES OF VERNDARI:

BOOK 1

FROM NOTHING

WRITTEN BY:

LITTLE, A.G.

"Who am I to play God?

When I'm nothing special.

Who am I to believe,

I was meant to be so much more?"

-Jack Vega

I

WRITTEN IN HISTORY

The first thing I could see when I was born in 3000 B.C. Was the bright glow of the moon. Since birth, I've always found the moon to be magnificent, well, until I met the moon herself...

It's now the year 1500 B.C. And I'm just minutes from a meeting with the Titans. The Titans are a group of powerful beings who rule over the humans in Greece. The main reason I'm going to meet with them is so I can get stronger, well, in a sense. You see, my name's Daniel Verndari and I'm best known as the Protector. The Protector of what exactly, I don't really have a clue since I've both helped people as well as not helped them since my birth. I've helped civilizations, well not as a whole, become powerful. Not just because all of those civilizations had Gods, Goddesses, or what have you, but because of their need for someone who can't be killed.

The thing about me was... I wasn't actually born. I was more... eh... placed on this planet for who knows what. If you ask me if I believe in fate, I'd have to say "No", well if I could talk. It may have been a side effect of having no parents, or something, but I couldn't speak, nor did I have the capacity for emotions, so nothing really fazed me. The deaths of entire towns by my hands... nothing. The screams of those who died for no reason at all... I can hear them when I go to sleep, but I still feel nothing. I'd been told by numerous people, not all Gods, that something was wrong with me. They very well could be right because everyone I know, whether they be "Divine Gods and Goddesses" or mortals, they feel something and yet I don't. Anyway, that's enough of a back story to my life for now...

I was making my way towards a large mountain in Greece where I was told meet the Titans. After a few hours, I arrived at Mount Othrys, where I was met with a large multi-headed dragon spitting some kind of poison at me. As I casually walked up to the dragon, I snapped my fingers, sending the dragon into a deep sleep. After doing this, I was met with a group of girls a bit shorter than I was, all with black hair, pale skin, and wore a set of white robes that most people in Greece could be seen wearing. "Who are you, traveler?" One of the girls asked me, almost glaring at me with hatred. The other 6 girls followed her lead, and soon I was being given the death glare by a bunch of young girls, probably on the verge of killing me. Sadly, I wasn't able to say anything, and this brought on more hate from the group, but before I would only assume was my 'death', a large man came walking down a large set of stairs wearing some kind of armor over a white robe of his own.

"Ah, Daniel. Come, come." The man said, gesturing for me to follow him. As I followed him up the stairs, he attempted to tell me everything I needed to know about the Titan Council I was just about to be apart of. "You need to understand that, Theia seems to think you'd be someone worth being acquainted with. Or, at least getting to know. So, here you are." He said, just before we stood before a large pair of marble doors. I then nodded in his direction before we entered the large room holding a group of Titans in their large thrones towering above me.

"Ah, good Iapetus. You're both here." A woman said as she looked around at the other Titans, probably holding a mental conversation with them all. As I looked around the room, I found that all of the women were staring at me, their faces becoming flushed. One of the female Titans seemed to realize what was happening and began to speak to me. "I do believe that all of us here can see that he's certainly special. Especially since he's probably the definition of attractive for women." The woman looked at me, then said, "My name's Eos, Titaness of Dawn." I then took a small bow before standing back up straight. "You need to know that, before we can allow you to work with us, we need to trust you." One of the male Titans said, glaring at me as if he was trying to figure a way he could kill me. Although, if he hated me and tried to kill me, it didn't really matter since I would kill him without giving it a second thought.

"Is there a reason you're not talking, Daniel?" One of the Titaness' asked. I just snapped my fingers and a scroll appeared before the woman, startling the other Titans. She looked at me before opening it slowly. As she read it, I could see her expression change from one of curiosity to one of horror, then to one of a static nothing. She was obviously trying to hide the rest of what she was feeling inside before she gave the scroll to another Titan who did the same thing she did. For the next few minutes, each of the Titans were given the scroll and when the scroll had been passed around the room, everyone looked at one another, then at me, as I assumed they were deciding my fate.

I thought I could hear a word being mouthed between the group of Titans, but it probably was nothing. I just continued to watch the council seemingly deciding if whether or not I would be joining them. "Daniel... we can't decide your fate with us today... so we'll be keeping you with us for a few days, deciding your fate by each passing day." A Titaness said. She seemed like the more mature type compared to the others. It was like she was the one who could make the more important decisions for them, regardless of emotional ties.

"Tonight, you'll be sleeping in the Garden with the Hesperides." A man said, standing up and walking towards me. As he grew closer, he began to shrink, but still towered over me by a few feet. I was starting to believe he was attempting to intimidate me when he bent down so he could look me in the eyes as he said, "Look, Daniel, I really don't like you." He paused briefly before continuing. "If you try anything with my daughters, I will kill you, got it?" When he finished, he continued to glare, but I don't think he received the answer he wanted because he soon huffed before he then stalked away from me. As everyone else sat there, looking at what had just transpired, I walked down the mountain and made myself a place to sleep a few feet from the garden. Not long after, one of the 'Hesperides' walked up to me and began to try and speak to me.

"What are you doing here?" She tried to prod, but at no prevail. "Why did you meet with the Titans?" She continued, but I was still silent. "Why can't you talk to me?" She finally asked, to which I snapped my fingers once again, making a scroll appear before her. After a few moments of looking at me, I gestured for her to read it. It took her a while to attempt to read what I had written a long time ago, but when she did, she looked at me with what I assumed was sympathy. "Oh..." She said, turning to look away from me. I wasn't able to shake a feeling that I needed to keep an eye on her... For some reason, it was almost as if she was an actual danger to me. As I turned away and began to sleep on the grass, I heard her say, "By the way... My name's Zoey." After that, she left, going towards her sisters who began to prod information off of her.

When I woke up the next morning, I was surrounded by a couple of the male Titans, dragging me somewhere. As they were dragging me, they were talking about something I had no clue of, saying something along the lines of, "God". After a few moments of dragging me, they stopped on the peek of a mountain overlooking a large valley where homes could be seen. These homes were packed with people of all ages, some playing with one another and a few working on either their farm, live stock, or whatever else they had to do. "You're all here, I see." I heard someone say as my legs were dropped to the ground. When I got up, I found myself in front of a large man kneeling underneath what appeared to by the sky itself.

"This is the one you're replacing me with? Doesn't look like much." The man said as I began to get the feeling he was like the Titans I had just begun to know. "Doesn't talk much, huh?" He continued, looking at me as if he was attempting to figure out who I was. "Anyway, just get him underneath here. I'm tired of having to have held this for so long." The man said, and soon I was being hoisted upwards, then dragged towards the other man holding the sky. "Try not to die, kid." One of the Titans dragging me said.

Within a few moments, I was suddenly thrust forward, allowing the man to briefly break free of the sky before I was forced to take it's weight. I could hear the Titans laughing at my 'misfortune'. "Looks like you're having a lot of fun, huh, kid?" One of them said before continuing to chuckle loudly. It didn't take long for their laughter to cease because soon enough, I was standing upwards, not fazed by what should have been the literal 'weight of the sky'. "H...how are you doing that?! HOW?!" The former Titan stuck underneath the sky said, then looked down at my feet as cracks in the ground were beginning to appear. "WHO IS HE?!" The Titan said looking at the other Titans with fear in his eyes. I could tell the others were equally terrified by this event. I, on the other hand, didn't care.

When I was finally standing up straight, I took the sky with one hand, then used my other hand to snap my fingers, causing myself to be able to step out from underneath the sky while keeping the sky from reaching the earth. As I walked up to the Titans, I found that they all held at least a sliver of fear for me as I walked pass them. I ended up having to walk a few miles back to Mount Othrys so I could go back to sleep before I infuriated any more Titans. By the time I had gotten back, I found a few of the other Titans looking as if they were waiting for someone, which was probably the other Titans I had left back where ever they had taken me. "Daniel, where were you?" One of the Titaness' asked. I looked at her, then made a scroll appear before her explaining what had happened when I woke up that morning.

After she was done reading, I though I could see a brief expression of anger before she passed the scroll to her fellow Titans, who's expressions became quite similar. "Daniel, why don't you sleep with me tonight? I don't believe the others will try to attack you if you stay with me." Eos said, almost trying to sound casual about the matter, but it was getting a bit awkward. I looked at the other Titans, and found some kind of envy in the way they looked at their fellow Titaness. 'What in Hel's name is going on here?' I thought to myself. Soon enough, I was being dragged up the mountain and through a set of doors which I began to realize was Eos' room.

I had to forcefully stop her from continuing to drag me, because as soon as we entered her room, she started to drag me to her bed with a look I'd seen quite a few times. One reason I didn't like to be around people, especially women was because of this look... "Daniel... What's wrong? Don't you want to sleep with me tonight?" Eos asked, as I was beginning to regret coming to Othrys. I looked at her and shook my head, then removed her hand from my arm before I left her room going back to my little spot on the grass. When I was finally laying down, about to go to sleep, Zoey stepped near the edge of the garden and began to watch me. I rolled over and began to stare at her, trying to see what she wanted, but she didn't say anything. I could see the moon at it's peak as Zoey was still staring at me, but for some reason, I was starting to feel tired. I wasn't really used to just spontaneously feeling like I needed to sleep, but something was off about my surroundings.

"I'll see you in the morning, Daniel..." Zoey said, smiling at me warmly. As I was asleep, I was dreaming about the moon, although there was a woman, who seemed to be the embodiment of the moon. It was strange, but I felt something for this woman. Something that I didn't know how to describe. When I looked around, I found that the world was completely different. Instead of small villages and large kingdoms with Gods and Goddesses everywhere among the mortals, I found many people who were descendants of these gods roaming around a strange world with large towering buildings everywhere, wars fought with strange weapons, and the few Gods around the world were looking like mortals, living among them as if they were one of them. I looked back at the woman to find her smiling at me, as if I was someone she cherished. For some reason, my face became red as I felt my face contort in a smile of it's own, which made the woman laugh at me... I really didn't understand what was happening to me, but then I heard someone calling me name.

"...Daniel..." Someone said, and soon enough, I felt my body being shaken. "DANIEL!" The voice grew louder, causing me to open my eyes. As I looked around where I was, I found myself back in the Council's room, surrounded by a few Titans and for some reason... Zoey. "Thank the Primordials you're awake." I heard Eos say, followed by a couple of the Titans nodding their heads. I looked at the group standing around me as I got to my knees and stood up. I then gestured for them to tell me what was going on, and some appeared to be reluctant to give me any information. "... Kronos' children are trying to kill the Titans. We need help..." Zoey said, looking at me as she started pleading with me. "Please, Daniel. Please help us..." She continued and as I looked at her, then the rest of the council, I found that something was beginning to stir within my chest. Something strange, but I decided to ignore it. Whatever it was, it didn't matter at that moment.

I nodded at Zoey, then looked directly at Theia, waiting for her directions. When she looked at me, she seemed to understand what I was waiting for, so she explained her plan. "Daniel, I can take you to where Kronos' children are, but I need you to fight them, okay?" She said, waiting a moment for some kind of response, to which I just nodded. "Good. Let's go." She finished, then grabbed my shoulder. For some reason, after she grabbed me, I could see a bright light surround us, then when it disappeared, we were in a different location. Before me, I found a bunch of Titans fighting a group of people who were young adults, no older than 17. I could see one of them throw lightning at a Titan, another cause the water around them to attack another Titan, even one causing the ground to crack open, making skeletons pour out of the ground.

It was kind of pathetic to watch as these people were going to kill the Titans who apposed them. The only one who seemed to notice my presence was the one who had conjured the skeletons and as I looked at him, I could see fear in his eyes. When I was a few feet from the fighting, I snapped my fingers, causing the Titans to disappear. The five of the people who were attacking the Titans suddenly looked at me, some holding fear, others getting ready to charge me. "Who are you, warrior?" One of them asked, stepping towards me wielding a lightning bolt. The guy had blonde hair, blue eyes, tan skin, and wore a white tunic. You could see the electricity in his eyes as well as some of it sparking off his body as he walked towards me. "Why do you side with the Titans, sir?" A woman asked, stepping forward with the lightning dude. This woman was wielding a dagger as she wore a white tunic like the rest of these people. Her dark brown hair was waving slightly in the breeze. Her brown eyes made it clear she was ready to attack me, which would have been a bad idea for her.

I looked at the rest of the people, and noticed the skeleton guy start to voice his disagreements with fighting me. "Silence, brother. We fight for our freedom from our father, Kronos." The lightning dude said, glaring at me with hatred. I snapped my fingers, causing a scroll to appear in front of the brown eyed woman standing almost in front of me. Her eyes widened as she caught the scroll, then as she opened the scroll, she looked between me and it for a few moments before she began reading it. When she had finished reading the book, she turned to look at the electric dude and said, "Zeus... I believe fighting this man would be a grave mistake." After she had said this, she handed the scroll the the man she called Zeus. "Hera, we should fight no matter the cost. Today we're fighting for our freedom." He said, but as he read the scroll, I noticed his facial expression change. His mind was being swayed by what I had written in it. About who I was.

As the rest of the five read my life up until this moment, they all looked fearful of me. "Daniel... I won't forget this moment." Zeus said, looking as if he was about to leave, but I gave him another scroll. As he read this, his face started to change. "Are you sure?" He asked, giving me a serious look. When I nodded, I could see relief rush over him. "Fine, then I give you my word that we won't harm any other Titans besides our father. Goodbye, Daniel." He said, and soon after, flashed away. After he was gone, the others followed suite, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I had just possibly stopped a war against people who wanted freedom and people who didn't deserve to die.

When I got back to the council, I walked up into the middle of the group of Titans and gave a scroll to the King of the Titans... Kronos. When he read the scroll, I could tell he was furious with me and would have tried to kill me then and there if he felt like he could have won. Everyone looked at him, causing him to look away from them. "My children are going to bring about the end of me..." He said. The Titaness next to him glared directly at him, and I could tell she knew what was happening. I gave her a scroll that said, 'Tell us what's happening.' She took a deep breath before telling us about how Kronos had tried to eat his children because of a prophecy about them killing him. He had tried to eat his son, Zeus, but failed because she couldn't let him eat all of her children. She, like most women, wouldn't allow her children to be harmed because she loved them. When Zeus had grown older, he tricked Kronos into regurgitating his brothers and sisters who I had seen when I was about the fight them.

"Kronos, as a member of this council, I vote that your place among us be revoked so we can ensure the survival of our people." Theia said, causing the other Titans to get into a debate with one another about whether or not Kronos should be removed from the council since he was the King of the Titans. I then gave all of the Titans who wanted to keep Kronos in the Council a scroll that said, 'If you wish to die, then you can join him. If you have a desire to live, then forget any allegiance with him. Now.' Those who received the scroll either glared at me, or hung their heads. Although, none of them continued to voice their opinions on the matter anymore. "All in favor of Kronos being removed from the council, raise your hand." Theia said, earning a hand from every member beside the King himself. Kronos looked around the room with hatred at everyone who was condemning him to his death. When he looked at me, though, the hatred in his eyes seemed to change to one of fear. With that, Kronos was dragged from his throne and placed before me as his eyes were still showing how afraid he was. "Daniel, you can take him to the Gods. Tell them that we mean no harm and hope that we can start over from this problem." Rhea said, and as I looked at her, I could tell she was sad about her husband dying. She new he was going to die, and yet did this so her children could live. I nodded before grabbing Kronos and taking him to where I knew the Gods would be.

I appeared on a large mountain high above the towns below near a large, marble white building shining in the sun. As I dragged Kronos through the doors leading inside, he continued to try and plead for his life. "Please, please. Don't hand me to them! I'll do anything you want! I... I can give you power! Lots of it!" He tried to plead, but soon enough, we were both in front of a group of thrones with each god adorning them as well. "Daniel, so you brought Kronos to us. Thank you. This means a lot to all of us." Zeus said, standing up and walking towards his father. "This is our revenge, father." He said as he grabbed the sickle hanging from Kronos' belt and began to cut him up into small pieces. The way Zeus was attacking his father made it clear that he hated the him. His eyes were full of hatred as he yelled at the Titan, screaming that he should die for the torment that his siblings had to endure inside his stomach, which was kind of weird considering right now, they were about the same size. When he was finished, he said, "With this, I cast Kronos, Titan of Time and King of the Titans into the deepest parts of Tartarus." Suddenly, the pieces of Kronos began to glow a bright light until they suddenly vanished.

When Zeus took his seat again, he said, "Daniel, you've done the Olympians a service. We will grant you anything you desire." I looked between him and his small council before handing him the scroll that told him about the Titan council's request of wanting peace between the Gods and Titans. "The Titans want peace between us and them. All in favor?" Zeus asked, and soon enough, all five gods were raising their hands in agreement with the request. "Then it's settled. From now on, the Gods and the Titans will be at peace with one another until that treaty is broken." Zeus said, then asked. "Is there anything else you'd like of us, Daniel?" I shook my head no. I didn't really need anything from anyone. Pretty much all my life I just went around the world doing whatever I felt like at the time. "Then I wish we can see more of one another. Until next time, Daniel." Zeus said before I left Mount Olympus and went back to the Titans with news of what happened.

Some of the Titans were a little happy with what happened since Kronos was more of a tyrant than a brother or fellow Titan. Others, though, were still in shock of what had happened to their fallen King. "Thank you for seeing to it that my children don't hate us, Daniel." Rhea said as she stood up and hugged me. It was a little awkward, but I let it slide seeing as she was just being overly excited with what had just transpired. "Since our King is dead, we need to appoint someone else to be our King." Theia said, earning nods of agreement from the other council members. "I vote Daniel to be our new King." Rhea said, pausing briefly before continuing her case. "He's stronger than any one of us, he prevented a war between us and my children, and seems to be a level headed person, unlike our previous King. Does anyone challenge my vote?" She asked, looking at all of the Titans, who shook their heads no. Some of the Titans seems fairly pleased with Rhea's choice, while others didn't seem to really care.

"Then it's settled. From now on, Daniel Verndari is going to be the new King of the Titans. Which means, we'll need to make him a Titan himself." Rhea said, going back and sitting in her throne. She then began to lead a chanting of sorts which began to cause a ray of some kind of energy to shoot from each of the Titans, going straight into me. When those rays connected with my being, I felt a familiar change start to take over from inside me. The feeling was similar to when I had just appeared on this planet and had woken up for the first time. It was a slight tingling sensation, but there was something else that I couldn't really describe about it. After a while when the chanting had died down, as well as the rays had stopped shooting directly into me, I heard Rhea say, "All hail, Daniel Verndari, Titan King of the Universe, The Moon, The Hunt, and Power over the Mind." With that, the Council Room erupted into cheers as everyone began to congratulate my being in the Council, despite no one asking if I wanted to be.

"With that, I believe this meeting is adjured." Rhea said, causing everyone to leave the room, each heading back to their own rooms for the night. When I was alone in the Council Room, I looked at the new throne designed for me for a few moments before heading outside to sleep in the grass. A lot had changed for me in just a span of a few days. The power I had gained from becoming a Titan was very minimal compared to what I already had, and the titles that came along with being a Titan were just of what I already had... besides the Moon and Hunt. The Universe and the 'Power over the Mind' were just weird ways of saying I could do whatever I wanted.

"So you're the new King of the Titans, huh?" I heard Zoey ask, to which I just nodded, looking at her as I began to fall asleep. "Well... goodnight My Lord." She said with a small bow. With my eyes growing heavy, I closed them for a brief second before suddenly falling asleep. Dreaming of the woman in the moon and the life I had lived before joining the Titans. It was a little weird that I had been forced to take on the role as a Titan King with only having lived for a few thousand years, and having had very little in the way of 'leadership training' during that time, but none the less, here I was, the newly elected King of the Titans and possible friend to the Gods.