Ch. 1
Vengeance takes root
In Autozam, a large fat man, by the name of Tello, was enjoying his meal. Despite the anti-slavery laws in Autozam, Tello was able to get his "unpaid servants" into the country with little difficulty. He looked around, marveling at his own cleverness and connections. As if he had stumbled upon something that was always a right of his, never to be taken away from him. With a signal he sent his slaves away to their barracks, he grabbed a beaker of wine and drunk it down; actually, only some of it went into his mouth, while the rest dribbled down his chin. As he picked up a piece of meat, something landed silently behind him. Tello was to busy eating alone, as the man crept up behind him.
Tello still had no idea that there was someone creeping up on him, when he turned around and faced the point of a sword. He looked up in fear, as he was a coward at heart. The man he saw wore a strange type of black armor, one that seemed to blend in with the shadows, yet in the light gave a metallic reflection. A long black cape gave him more of a dramatic appearance, but it was the eyes that captivated Tello; the eyes had no pupils, were solid red, and Tello could swear that they were steaming. Tello visibly gulped. He hadn't held a weapon in years, and there was no way to notify the guards. He was all alone with what he believed to be an assassin.
"Please don't kill me!!" Tello begged. The black knight looked at Tello in pure disgust. He grabbed Tello by the hair, and whispered two words, "Mind Gate".
Tello saw his entire memory flood before him. Everything he ever did since childhood till the present was displayed before him, and he thought that maybe this man was looking at it, too. Tello began to panic; there were certain items in his memory that he promised to some very powerful people never to reveal.
"STOP IT, STOP IT NOW!!!!" Tello bellowed in now pure fear. Suddenly his mind came upon a rather small for her age, yet proportionate, redheaded girl. The black knight gasped a bit, then explored further. What he saw turned his eyes from blood-red rage to icy blue sadness. He saw beatings administered to her by Tello, and the sick smile he got on his face after doing so. He saw her fed next to nothing, food that even rats wouldn't eat. He saw all the attempts to break her spirit, and he saw a man exchange money for her. He then heard the name, "Overlord Zengla" from one of the attendants. Then he heard Tello offer advice about how to break this girl. Finally, the memory flood stopped; the black knight had seen enough. He looked at Tello, whimpering in fear. The eyes suddenly returned to their blood fury state, and he raised his sword over his head, completely unaware of his victim's screams..
The black knight lingered for a moment, recognizing something on Tello's unmoving chest. He bent over and unlocked a small locket-like mirror from Tello's neck. He gazed upon it in sadness. Slipping it into a compartment, he heard banging on the door. It was the Autozam law enforcement, trying to discover what all the noise that was frightening Tello's neighbors was about. The black knight took another look at his victim in disgust, and left the way he came. When the Autozam police arrived, all they saw was a fat man on the floor, clutching at his blood stained tunic and at his heart...or rather, as they discovered upon looking at a tray on Tello's belly, were his heart should have been!
18 years earlier.
Strange, how on such a beautiful day in Cephiro, there would be such great sadness in the castle. Hikaru, who had just given birth to her third child, a daughter, was dying due to pregnancy complications. Or at least, that was the official theory. What everyone else suspected was that she couldn't go on without her Lantis. Everyone had been amazed that she had the strength to get to yet another pregnancy, let alone actually go through with it. Everyone knew that she had been badly affected by Lantis' demise. When they were on that picnic, merely two months ago, the children were playing when a monster came upon them with terrifying fire-breath. There was no time to cast a spell or attack, but Lantis rushed in, and sprang in front of the monster and the children. The burns were fatal; he died a week later, in much the same condition as Hikaru, albeit a little more burnt. She managed to comfort her child to sleep, and sit up in bed, looking at all her comrades and friends. No words needed to be spoken; they all spoke through their hearts. Her gaze turned to a young couple, her first two children and sons, Zagato and Lintas Shidou.
"Z-Zagato, Lintas, I want you to do something for me." She looked lovingly into her 10 and 8 year old children. I want you to forgive me for being selfish, for not being able to go on, for causing you to lose two parents in the same year at different times, so the pain can be twice as great, she thought bitterly. "I'm going on a trip soon, and I want you to two things: One, I want you to help Presea with Eagle. He still hasn't recovered from that coma of his. I had always wanted to see him awake again, but that isn't to be."
She shuddered, knowing that the end was near. Umi Ryuuzaki and Fuu Hououji, the two she was always closest too, her fellow Magic Knights, looked on in worriment, tears staining their eyes.
Zagato, as the eldest, felt it was his responsibility to go on. "What else, Mother?" Hikaru felt her strength leave her body, and that she had few precious moments left. Who was that in the darkness?
"Please." Lantis? Her beloved Lantis? "Take care of your sister; always take care of your sister."
With one last gasp she died. Lintas slowly started to bawl, trying to keep his tears from falling. Everyone else in the room caught on, and all were wet eyed.all that is, except Zagato. He wanted to cry, he wanted to let it all out, and he knew there would be no shame in the tears, but he held them back anyway. His father and now his mother both made him promise to be strong, and he would be strong. He would comply with his parent's wishes no matter what.
16 years after.
And he believed he had, as far as he was concerned. Eagle was still on his slow recovery, and his sister, Kila, became the innocent, splitting image of her mother. Kila was the castle pet, and everyone looked after her; not spoiler her, necessarily, but one couldn't deny, even she, that she didn't have anything a girl could possibly need. She wore the mirror of Lantis at her neck, and within her rooms she kept the gauntlet of the Red Knight of Fire, which for some reason worried Clef and his chosen successor, Ascon the son of Ascot and Umi, because that meant there was someone else worthy of donning the Rune-God Rayearth, someone with a heart to match Hikaru's. Zagato didn't give it much thought; he was content that his sister had something, anything, to have to remind her of the mother she never knew. Meanwhile, both he and his brother continued they're training to become magic swordsmen like their father. The lack of wars made a lack of soldiers, and under Lafarga, Captain of the Guard, it took a great deal of Cephiro's scant military power to patrol the forests and clear them of monsters, as well as protect the castle, as if that was needed. Zagato was also able to admit to himself, though Lintas was not, trained like this as personal punishment for what happened to their father. Both had ceased to go under the illusion that it was somehow their fault. But the stinging pain of guilt remained; this drove them both to follow in their father's footsteps.
Lintas, however, took his occupation and training as Cephiro's protector more seriously then Zagato, who was convinced that merely conveying Kila's safety was enough to successfully perform his duty, and that everyone else was just an annoying extra. Though Zagato was quite the looker, he shunned any woman that tried to entice him. His eyes were all for his sister, and he was devoted to her, as any big brother would be. Actually, that would be a less then honest self-evaluation of Zagato, for in reality any blind fool could tell that the looks he gave to Princess Emera, daughter of Ferio and Fuu the King and Queen of Cephiro, were more then just those offered to those of higher station...
His schoolmaster took down Zengla to the dungeon. The harsh master was able to convince the weakening Overlord that his son must administer punishment to the slave who attempted to escape. When Zengla looked at him, he gasped. The man was covered with blood, yet he had a defiant look in his eye; his spirit was still strong. His mocking glare forced Zengla to take a step back. He looked at his schoolmaster pleadingly, who merely scoffed at the boy and tossed him a whip. A message told to Zengla long ago suddenly came to mind,
"Destroy the spirit within, and you limit what the body can ever do..." With a cruel smile, Zengla raised the whip over his head, and took an animal-like pleasure in hearing it crack across a naked back, growled low as he heard the cry of pain. The schoolmaster laughed inside, as he was taking this student, and molding him to be the perfect ruler. Zengla's sick smile became a laugh; as he raised the whip again, he began to think of how you could easily get used to this.
Vengeance takes root
In Autozam, a large fat man, by the name of Tello, was enjoying his meal. Despite the anti-slavery laws in Autozam, Tello was able to get his "unpaid servants" into the country with little difficulty. He looked around, marveling at his own cleverness and connections. As if he had stumbled upon something that was always a right of his, never to be taken away from him. With a signal he sent his slaves away to their barracks, he grabbed a beaker of wine and drunk it down; actually, only some of it went into his mouth, while the rest dribbled down his chin. As he picked up a piece of meat, something landed silently behind him. Tello was to busy eating alone, as the man crept up behind him.
Tello still had no idea that there was someone creeping up on him, when he turned around and faced the point of a sword. He looked up in fear, as he was a coward at heart. The man he saw wore a strange type of black armor, one that seemed to blend in with the shadows, yet in the light gave a metallic reflection. A long black cape gave him more of a dramatic appearance, but it was the eyes that captivated Tello; the eyes had no pupils, were solid red, and Tello could swear that they were steaming. Tello visibly gulped. He hadn't held a weapon in years, and there was no way to notify the guards. He was all alone with what he believed to be an assassin.
"Please don't kill me!!" Tello begged. The black knight looked at Tello in pure disgust. He grabbed Tello by the hair, and whispered two words, "Mind Gate".
Tello saw his entire memory flood before him. Everything he ever did since childhood till the present was displayed before him, and he thought that maybe this man was looking at it, too. Tello began to panic; there were certain items in his memory that he promised to some very powerful people never to reveal.
"STOP IT, STOP IT NOW!!!!" Tello bellowed in now pure fear. Suddenly his mind came upon a rather small for her age, yet proportionate, redheaded girl. The black knight gasped a bit, then explored further. What he saw turned his eyes from blood-red rage to icy blue sadness. He saw beatings administered to her by Tello, and the sick smile he got on his face after doing so. He saw her fed next to nothing, food that even rats wouldn't eat. He saw all the attempts to break her spirit, and he saw a man exchange money for her. He then heard the name, "Overlord Zengla" from one of the attendants. Then he heard Tello offer advice about how to break this girl. Finally, the memory flood stopped; the black knight had seen enough. He looked at Tello, whimpering in fear. The eyes suddenly returned to their blood fury state, and he raised his sword over his head, completely unaware of his victim's screams..
The black knight lingered for a moment, recognizing something on Tello's unmoving chest. He bent over and unlocked a small locket-like mirror from Tello's neck. He gazed upon it in sadness. Slipping it into a compartment, he heard banging on the door. It was the Autozam law enforcement, trying to discover what all the noise that was frightening Tello's neighbors was about. The black knight took another look at his victim in disgust, and left the way he came. When the Autozam police arrived, all they saw was a fat man on the floor, clutching at his blood stained tunic and at his heart...or rather, as they discovered upon looking at a tray on Tello's belly, were his heart should have been!
18 years earlier.
Strange, how on such a beautiful day in Cephiro, there would be such great sadness in the castle. Hikaru, who had just given birth to her third child, a daughter, was dying due to pregnancy complications. Or at least, that was the official theory. What everyone else suspected was that she couldn't go on without her Lantis. Everyone had been amazed that she had the strength to get to yet another pregnancy, let alone actually go through with it. Everyone knew that she had been badly affected by Lantis' demise. When they were on that picnic, merely two months ago, the children were playing when a monster came upon them with terrifying fire-breath. There was no time to cast a spell or attack, but Lantis rushed in, and sprang in front of the monster and the children. The burns were fatal; he died a week later, in much the same condition as Hikaru, albeit a little more burnt. She managed to comfort her child to sleep, and sit up in bed, looking at all her comrades and friends. No words needed to be spoken; they all spoke through their hearts. Her gaze turned to a young couple, her first two children and sons, Zagato and Lintas Shidou.
"Z-Zagato, Lintas, I want you to do something for me." She looked lovingly into her 10 and 8 year old children. I want you to forgive me for being selfish, for not being able to go on, for causing you to lose two parents in the same year at different times, so the pain can be twice as great, she thought bitterly. "I'm going on a trip soon, and I want you to two things: One, I want you to help Presea with Eagle. He still hasn't recovered from that coma of his. I had always wanted to see him awake again, but that isn't to be."
She shuddered, knowing that the end was near. Umi Ryuuzaki and Fuu Hououji, the two she was always closest too, her fellow Magic Knights, looked on in worriment, tears staining their eyes.
Zagato, as the eldest, felt it was his responsibility to go on. "What else, Mother?" Hikaru felt her strength leave her body, and that she had few precious moments left. Who was that in the darkness?
"Please." Lantis? Her beloved Lantis? "Take care of your sister; always take care of your sister."
With one last gasp she died. Lintas slowly started to bawl, trying to keep his tears from falling. Everyone else in the room caught on, and all were wet eyed.all that is, except Zagato. He wanted to cry, he wanted to let it all out, and he knew there would be no shame in the tears, but he held them back anyway. His father and now his mother both made him promise to be strong, and he would be strong. He would comply with his parent's wishes no matter what.
16 years after.
And he believed he had, as far as he was concerned. Eagle was still on his slow recovery, and his sister, Kila, became the innocent, splitting image of her mother. Kila was the castle pet, and everyone looked after her; not spoiler her, necessarily, but one couldn't deny, even she, that she didn't have anything a girl could possibly need. She wore the mirror of Lantis at her neck, and within her rooms she kept the gauntlet of the Red Knight of Fire, which for some reason worried Clef and his chosen successor, Ascon the son of Ascot and Umi, because that meant there was someone else worthy of donning the Rune-God Rayearth, someone with a heart to match Hikaru's. Zagato didn't give it much thought; he was content that his sister had something, anything, to have to remind her of the mother she never knew. Meanwhile, both he and his brother continued they're training to become magic swordsmen like their father. The lack of wars made a lack of soldiers, and under Lafarga, Captain of the Guard, it took a great deal of Cephiro's scant military power to patrol the forests and clear them of monsters, as well as protect the castle, as if that was needed. Zagato was also able to admit to himself, though Lintas was not, trained like this as personal punishment for what happened to their father. Both had ceased to go under the illusion that it was somehow their fault. But the stinging pain of guilt remained; this drove them both to follow in their father's footsteps.
Lintas, however, took his occupation and training as Cephiro's protector more seriously then Zagato, who was convinced that merely conveying Kila's safety was enough to successfully perform his duty, and that everyone else was just an annoying extra. Though Zagato was quite the looker, he shunned any woman that tried to entice him. His eyes were all for his sister, and he was devoted to her, as any big brother would be. Actually, that would be a less then honest self-evaluation of Zagato, for in reality any blind fool could tell that the looks he gave to Princess Emera, daughter of Ferio and Fuu the King and Queen of Cephiro, were more then just those offered to those of higher station...
His schoolmaster took down Zengla to the dungeon. The harsh master was able to convince the weakening Overlord that his son must administer punishment to the slave who attempted to escape. When Zengla looked at him, he gasped. The man was covered with blood, yet he had a defiant look in his eye; his spirit was still strong. His mocking glare forced Zengla to take a step back. He looked at his schoolmaster pleadingly, who merely scoffed at the boy and tossed him a whip. A message told to Zengla long ago suddenly came to mind,
"Destroy the spirit within, and you limit what the body can ever do..." With a cruel smile, Zengla raised the whip over his head, and took an animal-like pleasure in hearing it crack across a naked back, growled low as he heard the cry of pain. The schoolmaster laughed inside, as he was taking this student, and molding him to be the perfect ruler. Zengla's sick smile became a laugh; as he raised the whip again, he began to think of how you could easily get used to this.