Chapter 1: The Chosen One

BlueTiger321: Okay, everyone. So now for the first chapter, we see the first one who's come in contact with the Tome of Eternal Darkness. And here you'll see which side he'll take. I hope you're all ready for what happens next. Enjoy!


Ophelia kept reading the passage from the Tome, and it was as if she witnessed what this person was describing. Afraid and curious at the same time, she kept on reading:

"To think that once I could not see beyond the veil of our reality, to see those who dwell behind. My life now has purpose, for I have learned the frailty of flesh and bone. I was once a fool..."

As Ophelia read, she could see through the eyes of the writer. Now it was as though she was in Ancient Persia in the year 26 B.C. It was a hot day in the barren desert as three Roman soldiers stood before some ruins. The commander was a man in his late twenties with black hair and red eyes. His apparel consisted of red and dark green clothing with pieces of armour covering parts of his body. The armour plate on his chest had a menacing, red raven painted over it, and he had a metal piece on his head that covered his forehead and the sides of his face. A double-bladed sword also hung from his back. The man was none other than the historical captain of the Roman Legions known as Dark Ace.

Dark Ace turned to face his fellow soldiers (the Talons from Storm Hawks) and spoke in Latin, saying, "Rest the men, they will need their strength. Make sure they take enough water and are in high spirits. Today's battle was but one of many if we are able to complete our mission."

"At once, Dark Ace," said one of the soldiers who also spoke in Latin. Before long, the soldier was then changing his speech to English. "I would like to compliment you once more on your battle tactics. Our enemies did not have a chance."

The first soldier took his leave, and the second soldier decided to add his input. "Do you believe it really exists, sir?" he asked.

Dark Ace said in English without hesitation, "I do not doubt our Emperor's beliefs, or his orders. But if we are to retrieve the artifact, then we must be strong... and patient."

The soldier saluted his Centurion and walked away with his orders to find the artifact. Dark Ace knew that he would have to be vigilant if he was to complete his mission, so there would be no time to waste. All of a sudden, as Dark Ace was alone to ponder his thoughts, he turned around as he thought he heard a voice.

"Come to us, Dark Ace..." said the mysterious voice.

The Centurion then walked off as though he was in some kind of trance. This voice was hypnotic, and it seemed to have a hold on him.

As Dark Ace walked, he could then hear another voice, but this one sounding more feminine. "Come to us, Dark Ace..." it said.

Dark Ace was forced to draw his sword and activate the firebolt crystal on its hilt, which caused two red blades of energy to form. He didn't know whether or not there could be danger waiting for him, but he was still drawn to the calls.

After walking a few more steps, the Centurion saw that he was near some weird structure. There were five stone pillars that formed in the circle, and one of them had archaic runes carved into its side. Dark Ace thought it was probably for some kind of ritual, but that was irrelevant. He had to find who or what was beckoning to him.

As he walked into the centre, the runic pillar started emitting yellow waves of energy that soon spread to the other pillars and formed a pentagonal pattern around Dark Ace. The Centurion could do nothing but scream as the beams of light shot out to him and made him vanish into thin air.


The next thing he knew, Dark Ace was now transported into a strange temple. The room he stood in was lit with nearby torches casting a small flame, and he could see it was well-decorated. The man knew that this must be the Forbidden City he was ordered to find by his Emperor, and now he must search for the artifact.

Dark Ace walked forward and spotted a hole in the middle of the stone floor with a ladder going down one of its sides. Nothing could be seen in the pitch black hole, but Dark Ace mustered all his courage and climbed down for the sake of his Emperor.

The Centurion was now in a long corridor with bodies scattered throughout the floor. Stopping in his tracks, he saw something up ahead. It was a granite block that seemed out of place since it had a red-coloured rune on one of its sides. Dark Ace then held his sword high as he saw that one of the bodies next to the block started to rise. It was a zombie, and Dark Ace was going to deal with it the way he dealt with anyone who stood in his way.

Dark Ace rushed forward and chopped off the zombie's head, letting blood ooze out of its wound. Just then, two more zombies had awakened and they slowly crept over to the Centurion. As Dark Ace hacked away at one of the zombie's limbs, it slowly fell to the floor. Dark Ace wasted no time in giving the coup de grâce to his enemy, and so he plunged his sword into the zombie's torso, obliterating it from existence.

The Centurion then dispatched with the rest of the zombies the same way. Once he was done, he walked forward and claimed his prize – the granite block.

Dark Ace walked out the door and into the next room where two more zombies waited for him.

Looking at his undead foes, he thought, How many of these accursed things are there?

That's when he noticed another granite block sitting on the floor in front of him. Unlike the first one, this one had a green-coloured rune on its side. Dark Ace picked up the block and then killed the zombies, now aware of how to finish them.

The Centurion walked into the next room, killing whatever zombies came his way while still trying to find the artifact. Secretly, he wished his fellow soldiers were there to provide him some back-up. This room had another granite block like the other two he had collected, but this one had a blue-coloured rune on the side.

As soon as he had the third block, the voice that called to him before had once again echoed in his mind. "Dark Ace..." it said.

Dark Ace pressed on, hoping to put an end to this mystery and find the artifact. He climbed down a ladder and into a corridor with mist covering the floor. There were two doors, but one was blocked by a cage. The man had no choice but to go through the door that wasn't barricaded.

He was now in a room made out of bluish stone. As he walked into the centre, he noticed four different runes on the walls. Looking at them closely, he recognised three of them to be the same ones on the granite blocks he had collected. But the fourth rune – a yellow-coloured one – was one he did not understand. That's when he saw there was a fourth granite block in the centre of the room, which was guarded by zombies. The Centurion destroyed each zombie, letting the blood stain his fabulous sword before picking up the block.

Dark Ace was now alone in the room but he did not know where to go from there. He searched the room for some kind of clue and spotted square-shaped holes underneath each rune in the wall. Taking out the block with the corresponding rune, he placed each block in the correct hole.

(A/N: Doesn't seem like much of a puzzle, does it?)

Once each block was in place, Dark Ace thought he heard something coming from outside the room. He decided to check out what had been done, so he ran to where he came from and exited the room. The cage that blocked the other door was now gone, and so he walked through it into the next room.

This room looked like there was no other way to exit. But the one thing that truly put Dark Ace on edge was that he looked at a statue in the centre that looked identical to him. This left the man shocked to see how someone could've erected a statue in his image when these ruins were supposed to be lost for so long.

All of a sudden, a mysterious voice called out to the man, saying, "Dark Ace, you must prove your worth by destroying this statue."

If the Centurion was going to get his answers then he would be forced to comply. He held his weapon high and sliced away at the statue, cutting off its head and its arms before thrusting the blades into the chest. Dark Ace tried imagining the statue like it was another of his enemies to eliminate his worries.

Destroying the statue had proven effective as a passageway had opened up, and Dark Ace rushed out of the room as quickly as he could.

Now Dark Ace had entered a room where he found a stone circle with a glowing, yellow light surrounding it beside the entrance. It appeared to be some kind of switch, so the man pushed it without hesitation. The switch had closed the entrance and raised three stone spires in the room's centre where another yellow circle had emerged. The captain walked into the glowing circle and his body vanished in a flash of light.

The man was transported into a room that didn't seem like the others he had traversed. At the end of the hallway were three different effigies hovering over the red, blue and green-coloured runes he had observed in the temple. Each of them had different appearances: the red effigy was shaped like a twisted claw; the blue effigy was shaped like a distorted spearhead; and the green effigy was shaped like a crown. Dark Ace knew that these were the artifacts his Emperor had ordered him to find.

(A/N: I tried to think of things that would resemble the characters I'm using to replace the ancients. If you'll look in my Upcoming Stories, you'll see which ones they are.)

Dark Ace didn't know why, but the green artifact was calling out to him so he reached out his hand to touch it.

As soon as the man tried to grab the artifact, it immediately started to glow with green light. The energy then shot out to Dark Ace's body and made him scream as his eyes emitted the same green glow. He put his hands to the floor and the green light had now consumed his body.

A while later, Dark Ace re-emerged after what had just happened to him. Now his armour was as black as the night sky and the image of the red raven on his chest was now replaced with a golden skull. Waves of green energy still moved around on his body as he tried to upright himself. When he did, he brought his face forward and he revealed himself. His skin was now tight against his bones and his eyes were now missing their pupils. The great Centurion known as Dark Ace was now transformed into a liche.

The now undead sorcerer had a new objective in mind after his transformation. He would see to it that his new master was going to enter this world and usher in a new era of destruction.

His last passage in the Tome was this: "Aeons have passed since then, and I have learned much. I was once as naïve as a child, but now my mind is sharp. With the power of Desiree, I can now read the thoughts of others and make them raving mad with a mere suggestion. Face me, and you shall surely perish!"


Back in the present time, Ophelia had looked up after reading the passage from the Tome. She thought it was odd that her grandfather had held onto something like this, and even more odd was what she had just read. But she knew her grandfather better than anyone, and she knew that this book had to be something important if it was in his possession.

I've got to find out what happens next, she thought.

The rest of the pages in the book were missing, and so Ophelia figured they would be hidden somewhere around the mansion. She turned her back and spotted a piece of paper hanging from the wall. From the age of the paper, she concluded that this must be the next page. Now she would see what Dark Ace was doing and how this ghost story was related to her grandfather's death.


BlueTiger321: Oh no! Now Dark Ace has turned his back on humanity and is the servant of Desiree!

Dark Ace: That's right! Fear me!

Ophelia: You don't look so tough. You're just skin and bones – literally!

Dark Ace: *veins popping* Why you...!

BlueTiger321: Hey, hey, let's not get carried away here. We've still got the other characters' parts. So folks, stay tuned for the next chapter. Until then...

Ophelia: Read and review!