Induction
Boredom had come to the Crimson Needle.
The towering red spire stabbed into the cloudy sky, but cast no shadow upon those sunless lands. The sky was covered in gray clouds that showed no sign of clearing up. The Lord of The Crimson Needle looked upon the lands from his throne, and saw nothing.
"Something troubles you, my lord?" asked his lieutenant, a shapely young woman whose white cloak concealed most of her form. A red cloth, stretched over her face, served as a mask, while the ends were tied to her violet hair in the style of a messy ponytail.
"There is nothing left to do here in these dead lands. The Valley of the Forsaken has become dull and lifeless. I have fought against all those forsaken by their makers, but yet they return here, for they have no place other than here. Vanquishing them gives me no pleasure; their torture gives me no joy. What is a king left to do if he cannot bring ruin to his enemies?" said the Lord of the Needle, brushing aside his long red hair. It was incredibly straight, and most of it hung over his face like a veil. The golden mask he wore, a birdlike mask that would call to mind the masks the plague doctors used during the Black Death, jarred his otherwise human appearance. Red eyes stared out from under the mask, surveying the land with disinterest.
"What else can one forsaken by his makers do?" he asked to his aide, but she gave no answer.
Suddenly, a bright flash filled his vision, and it lingered even after the flash had left. Whiteness filled his eyes, and for a moment, he feared he had been struck blind. He could hear his aide screaming about her eyes, which meant the flash was more than physical. He stood up from his throne, standing proudly as his vision cleared.
Before him he saw two people he had never seen before, and one man he knew very well.
"Valdescir! How dare you intrude upon my lands! Your kind is not welcome here!" he roared angrily at the man in the black trenchcoat.
"Relax, Bokkyaku, I come in peace." said Valdescir, holding up his hands with his palms out.
"Why are you here? And why have you brought these children into my domain?"
Valdescir reached inside his coat, and pulled out a cigarette. He held up a finger as he put the stick in his mouth, lit it with his left finger, breathed in deep, and let it go.
"I'm here to call you up on that favor."
The children couldn't see through his mask, but he was sure they could see the look of surprise etched onto his face.
"What favor? I owe you no favors." he defended hastily, perhaps too hastily in his opinion. His aide moved forward to attack, but he held her back.
"When I found you here, caught in the Current and dying, I told you I would give you power to release yourself, and I did, for the price of a few favors. You agreed, in your own terms, that you 'would do anything just as long as you get me out! I'll do you any favor, just don't leave me here!'. Now, what was that bit about owing me no favors?" said Valdescir, a smug smirk on his face.
If Valdescir didn't have powers on a level of million times higher than his own, Bokkyaku would've given anything to smack that smug look on his face.
Of course, him giving anything in exchange for something was what got him into this mess in the first place.
"Fine, what is your feeble request?" he asked, in his most regal voice. His aide had stepped back, and appeared to be watching them warily.
"I want you to fight a war with us. You are an official Greywing, and as such, you must follow our tenets, king or no."
Bokkyaku looked at him with disdain, but knew this to be the truth.
"What tenets? I have heard of no such tenets since I have been "inducted" into your Greywings."
Valdescir ran a hand through his white hair, and sighed.
"I can't go on about the 36 tenets right now, the one that matters right now is that no Greywing fights alone, especially not a war."
"Are you afraid that no one will need you anymore if they do fight alone?" taunted Bokkyaku, which earned him a glare from Valdescir filled with such malice that he found it hard to talk for a moment.
"I…you're right. I'm coming with you." Said Bokkyaku, his heart still filled with a bit of fear. He did not know that that chain-smoking pretty boy could be filled with such hate.
A heavy silence filled the throne room, only to be broken by the girl's tuneless whistling.
"Well, if that's settled, can we go to Remiel now?" asked Nimeni.
Valdescir looked over to Bokkyaku, who took it as a cue to go over to them. He stood next to Nimeni , who seemed to be the least threatening.
"Sup'." said the boy, holding out an armored fist. Bokkyaku, unclear of the boy's intentions, held out his fist as well. The boy touched fists with him, and gave a nod.
In an instant, the 4 vanished with a bright flash, as they headed through the flux towards their goal…
War.