Author's Note: Okay, seeing that I'll be going on a camp from 10th June till 12th June, I'd like to write a short side plot/ prologue. Hope this suffices for now. The next chapter for Prologue comes out after my camp. Sorry for the delay.
But for now, enjoy.
Note: This will be Gordon Michaels' explanation to Ronox, Jericho and Jonas for his tattoo. The parts without them three, at any rate.
12 years pre-Prologue
The two cloaked figures strode to the tent, or what was a tent. The cloth had been ripped to shreds, blood and gore covered the charred remains.
One figure nodded to the other, and both started searching the remains.
In a few minutes, the latter exclaimed in delight. She held what seemed like a bundle of clothes up high, letting the other person hold on to it.
He pulled at the cloth, finding a baby seemingly staring back at him.
He looked at the other, and, beneath the hood, one could see a faint smile.
They both nodded and walked away, taking the child with them.
12 years later
"Gordon! Come back here!" a voice rang through the snowy fields of El Nath.
A young boy, Garnier in hand, ran towards the voice. A person, cloaked in black, appeared.
"Yes, dad?" Gordon smiled up at his supposed father.
"Don't run around here. Stay in town. It's dangerous."
"But…but I'm bored…"
"Yes, Gordon, I know. It's only for a few days. Be a good boy and stay in the cottage. Uncle John will take care of you."
"But he's weird! He goes about with a stern face, and scolds me at the slightest reason!"
The cloaked figure sighed again. "I know that. Sorry, but just put up with him for a few more days. Just a few more days."
Finding no more hope, Gordon bowed his head, leaving for the town of El Nath.
"Just stay for a few more days…what does dad want here?" Gordon muttered to himself.
The same cloaked figure appeared at the first storey of Orbis Tower, meeting up with another cloaked man. However, the cloak of that particular person was different: crimson lines could be seen on both sleeves and the hood.
The former knelt down, saying, "Greetings, master."
"Ah, Dusk. Always the formal one. Stand up; I don't want to attract attention here."
"Yes, master."
"Alright. So a question before the real one. Why did you bring the child with you?" The black and crimson figure raised an eyebrow beneath that hood.
"Since the Ordinatio has ordered me to take care of Gordon for him to join the ranks of Necrons, I don't think it's any problem that I let Gordon be around me at all times," Dusk replied.
"Fair enough. But why isn't the child here now?" the man smiled.
"I can trust Johnson. He's part of the Ordinatio himself. Wouldn't you trust him, master Formidilosus?" Dusk questioned his superior.
"Formid. Just call me Formid. You know I hate my given name," Formid sighed.
"Yes, master, I mean, Formid," Dusk bowed his head. "By the way, why am I summoned?"
"A simple mission. Elementary. Kill necromancer Johnson."
"Kill Johnson? How can you? He's your equal…" Dusk stammered.
"I'm under orders from the Highest himself. Not that I want him dead, but the rest of Ordinatio want him dead. They're afraid he's becoming too ambitious. Look at how he became a member of Ordinatio! He actually blackmailed Necrons!" Formid was getting hot-tempered, as he seldom was.
"But…but I thought…" Dusk continued stammering, "wasn't Johnson always loyal? He completed Necron's hardest missions himself, risking his life for the guild…"
"Okay Shut. Up. Seriously. This is an order from the Highest himself, you do as told." Formid left for Orbis, walking up the frozen stairs of Orbis Tower.
Dusk frowned.
Looks like I have no other choice. I'm sorry, Necrons.
Gordon was shivering at the side of the room, and it was not due to the cold of El Nath. In any case, he would have preferred to be outside, dying of cold, than inside, being murdered verbally by Uncle John.
"Little brat! I can see you! Come out now and there'll be less punishment for you," a deep voice boomed from outside the room.
"Like real you can," Gordon muttered, forgetting about Johnson's abilities. The necromancer was famous for being able to 'see' through items to find people, by sourcing out traces of mana. It just so happened that Gordon had cast a Dark Sight over himself.
"Oh?" Johnson strode confidently into the room. "One more chance. If you will reveal yourself and kneel before me I might think of a lighter sentence."
Gordon gritted his teeth. The young Rogue had witnessed Johnson's definition of 'punishment', and he didn't want to feel it physically.
"Poof. Last chance gone," Johnson calmly reached behind a crate, pulling Gordon out of his hiding place. "Now, what should I do? No loss of life, but something near…"
"Johnson! What are you doing? Put Gordon down!" Dusk was at the entrance of the room. "I said put him down!"
"Why, Dusk, so concerned about your boy?" Johnson smiled, "this little guy here refused to come chopping some firewood with me. What do you expect me to do?"
"Just put him down. We can talk later about this," Dusk stared at his fellow necromancer.
Johnson looked at the struggling Rogue.
"Fine," He dropped Gordon, making him land painfully on a rotten plank.
"Gordon!" Dusk ran to his son.
"He'll be fine. Necron's own training regime."
"Shut up!" Dusk snapped at Johnson.
He looked back to Gordon. "You fine, son?"
"Yes…dad." Gordon stammered, "I'll be fine. Don't worry."
"See, your own son said so. Don't worry," Johnson smiled.
Dusk stared straight at him. "You'd better stop all this, Johnson. He's Necron's hope."
Johnson laughed. "Necron's hope? Don't make me laugh. How can a weakling like him be Necron's hope?"
Dusk suddenly flared up, punching Johnson right in the face. The necromancer was no match for Dusk's strength, falling immediately.
"Don't worry, friend. That will only make you unconscious, you'll be fine," Dusk whispered.
Gordon grabbed his father's hand tightly, shivering. "Dad…"
Dusk remembered about his son, next to him.
"Come. We need to go."
Father and son ran through the fields of El Nath, Dusk destroying any creatures standing between him and the Orbis Tower.
Finally, they reached the tower, Gordon panting, Dusk looking all around them, watchful of other fellow necromancers.
When Gordon finally caught his breath, he asked his father, a single question, "Why have you brought me here, Dad?"
"Later. For now, just run, run like the wind."
"Why, Dad?" Gordon insisted, "and Uncle John too. He isn't a bad guy; he's just a little cruel. Why?"
"Okay," Dusk finally said, "I have been given orders by the Highest to kill Uncle John."
Gordon raised an eyebrow. "Then why did I have to run away?"
Dusk sighed. "After being in Necrons for your whole life, you still don't know how we operate. When we are given an order to kill, it involves killing all witnesses. You count as a witness."
Gordon's eyes went wide.
"You mean…"
"The Highest was giving an indirect order to kill you, Gordon."
"But why me?"
"I'll tell you later," the necromancer replied, "let's go to Orbis first. We're a lot safer there."
After climbing up half of Orbis Tower, Dusk finally decided to take a rest. He walked to the exact centre of the 10th storey, and knocked on a wall. The wall crumbled, revealing a dark cave. A dim light shone out from the cave.
"We can talk inside," Dusk said, pointing inside the cave, "You need some rest too."
Gordon crouched, slowly walking into the cave, followed by Dusk. When they were inside, Dusk used a Gaia's Wrath technique to block up the opening.
"We are safe now," Gordon whispered.
"Glad you know that."
"Okay, dad, why does Necrons want to kill me?"
Dusk sighed yet again. "Looks like I'll have to start from the beginning."
"The stories I told you about how you mom died was all false, Gordon. You were found by Dawn and me in Perion. You were just a baby then. The tent you were found in was torn to shreds, and your guardians were found dead. I decided to take you back to Necrons, where Dawn and I were given strict orders to bring you up as a Necroite."
Gordon looked up, wide eyed. "And then?"
"Then, when you were just a novice, without having gone through a single advancement, the Ordinatio decided you were a talented boy. They brought you up wanting you to be one of Necrons' best soldiers."
"However, they noticed one thing: you were not affected by Darkness. I, as well as Necrons, was amazed by how you learnt Darkness techniques, one after the other, without suffering side effects."
"Side effects?"
"Yes, side effects. A person who uses Darkness will usually get a fever for the 1st month they use the element. But that's only a minor effect. Prolonged usage will cause pale skin, red eyes, and most of all, insanity."
"But…I'm…"Gordon stammered.
"You're a rare case. I am too. However, the Ordinatio never noticed that on me, most probably because I was good at hiding it. The best necromancers do not suffer these side effects. They thought you would be insane, as such, it would have been easier to control you."
"Now, seeing that you are perfectly fine in your mind, they've decided that you are a danger to Necrons, and have ordered me indirectly to kill you," Dusk said, "or so I think. But it's quite obvious."
Gordon fell back against the wall. This sudden flood of information was too much for him.
Suddenly, he sat up.
"Wait. Isn't Dawn only a year older than me?"
Dusk sighed.
"The Ordinatio will be having my head for all the secrets I'm giving. Dawn and Dusk are actually positions in the Ordinatio, exceptionally good necromancers. Everyone who takes this position leaves their real name behind and takes this name. The former Dawn was killed two years after finding you by some Priests."
"Oh…" Gordon nodded.
Dusk stood up.
"We don't have time to waste. Get moving, Gordon. Don't worry; I'll always be behind you."
Soon, Gordon and Dusk were at the Orbis Station, waiting for a ship to arrive and take Gordon to Sixtopia Station.
Dusk pulled up Gordon's right sleeve. An N was tattooed there, glowing green.
"Lend me a Steely please, Gordon."
Gordon held up a Steely he produced from his pocket.
"This isn't going to hurt, is it?"
'I'm sorry, but just bear with it."
Gordon's eyes went wide, before he cringed.
"Sorry. I decided a little bit of Darkness could be used as ink for the tattoo. Forgot it just so happened to be a combat technique."
Gordon looked at his shoulder, albeit with some difficulty. The green glowing had stopped, and there was a bleeding line across the N.
"You're officially not a member of Necrons now, so be free to do whatever you want."
Gordon looked at Dusk. "What about you?"
Dusk smiled. "I'll be fine. But you can come in a year though, to find me. Don't worry, I'd have quit Necrons. Bring your new friends along."
"Yes," the Assassin smiled, "yes, dad."
1 year later
"Are we there yet?" Ronox yawned, twirling his dagger.
"Yes, yes…" Gordon replied, searching the city of Orbis. "Dad said he'll be here."
"Sure? Captain Zone is going to have our heads if he finds out we wasted three tickets on this trip," Jericho questioned his friend and teammate.
"It'll be worth it. In fact, it is worth it. Come on!" Gordon waved them towards him, running around the city.
Ronox rolled his eyes.
"Just don't get too lost around here, Mike."
"Sure thing, Ron."
"Wait," Jericho motioned for them to stop, "this must be it. You said your dad's living in a weapons shop, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Here we are."
Gordon ran to the door of the shop, quickly opening and rushing through it. Ronox and Jericho followed.
A fairy was waiting behind a counter. "May I help you?"
"Do you happen to know anyone by the name of Dusk?"
"Why, he's just upstairs!"
"Thanks!"
Gordon ran up the stairs of the shop, finding a bedroom, filled with books of every variety.
A cloaked figure turned around, facing Gordon. He took of his hood.
"Dad!"
"Gordon!"
Just then, Ronox strode up, muttering a, "hi there."
Dusk looked up. "This is…"
"Have you forgotten, dad? You told me to bring my friends the next time I visited!"
"Oh yeah. Hi. What's your name?" Dusk smiled.
"In a moment, sir," Ronox replied. He looked down the stairs, shouting, "get up, Jerry! The spears here are too expensive!"
"Jerry?" Dusk questioned.
"Ah, yeah," Gordon smiled, "The bandit's Ronox Neo, or Ron, and the guy downstairs is Jericho Lawson. You know his nickname."
"I see," Dusk smiled, "but what's most important is that you've come, Gordon!"
Gordon beamed back. "Thanks. Thanks, dad."
Okay, so that's that, and the next chapter comes out after my camp. Sorry, folks.
