I awoke early the next morning to the sound of unfamiliar commotion. Bugles sounded outside the fortress while the endless stirring of a mob grew. Outside my chamber, I saw the few soldiers of my fortress flee the building quickly, hurrying out of the front doors. One soldier had the courtesy to inform me of the event.

There was a knock on my door.

I opened it cautiously, peaking my eye out of the crack of light. I was never terribly fond of visitors.

"What do you want?"

The young soldier spoke with hope and admiration in his voice.

"It's Emperor Dornkirk! He's going to speak to the public today! Attendance is requi-"

I squinted my eye angrily at him.

"I mean, attendance is…recommended. Please come. It's so rare that he speaks to us. I'm sure it's important-" His eyes wandered off as he watched the last remaining soldiers leave.

"I-I have to go!" He quickly ran off, leaving me to my decision.

I shifted my eyes momentarily, aware that the fortress was practically empty.

"Hm."

I left my chamber, curious of what this "Dornkirk" would have to say. I'd heard of his leadership…ah yes, the man whose word was always spoken of, but was rarely seen. It was his rule that had made my country what it was, though I had no real grasp of that at the time. The thought of hearing him speak to the public intrigued me.

I walked down the halls, in no hurry, and knocked twice on Gatti's door as I continued ahead.

"Gatti, come." My voice carried through the halls.

He heard me, of course, and obeyed.

Frantically he ran out of his chamber to catch up with me.

"Lord Dilandau, where are we going? What is all the noise about?" I'd come to find Gatti's endless questions as a sort of entertainment.

"A meeting, Gatti. An important one." We continued to the fortress doors.

"Why didn't they inform me?"

I smiled at him.

"Because they don't care about you, Gatti."

We approached the top of the fortress steps, where we could see the massive crowds gathered near the heart of the city. I'd never seen so many people in once place before. It was an energy I had never felt in my city, a great sense of unity and belonging, joined with a silent fear. My people held a great amount of faith in Dornkirk; I needed to know why.

As I made my way into the city, I tried to make out whether or not Dornkirk was present or not. I could only see the people who moved aimlessly among the crowd, quaking in excitement.

There was something in front of the crowd, something tall and nameless. It was rectangular and blanketed with a pristine, white sheet-like material.

Moving in closer to the crowd, I began pushing my way through the civilians. Had they known who I was…they would surely have moved automatically. One man I pushed actually took the time to push back.

"Watch it. We're all waiting to see the emperor, kids like you should stay in the back."

I imagine based on my appearance, he didn't think me to be much more than a common beggar.

I wasn't in the mood to waste time on him. I continued trying to push through the crowd, but the man decided that he wasn't done with me. He grabbed me by the neck and pulled me back towards him.

"Did you not hear me? Stupid kid…" He threw his fist in my face, breaking my skin and smearing blood from my mouth to my cheek. Trapped, Gatti screamed to me from far behind the crowds. I could vaguely see him desperately trying to reach me through the dense mass of oblivious people.

I'd had enough of the man.

I twisted his arm and repeatedly beat my fist into the back of his head. My hand grew red as I continued the pummeling, ensuring that the man would not bother me any longer. I became too involved in bruising the man's skull, and foolishly failed to notice his leg swing forward, knocking me down.

My head to slammed hard against the stone of the city streets, blurring my vision slightly. The man stood over me, ready to crush me with his mud-encrusted boot, when suddenly the entire crowd fell silent and still.

There was an announcement from one of the officials standing in front of the endless crowd, but I was too far and disoriented to hear what was being said. Suddenly, the large object that stood before all of us was unveiled of its blanketing white, revealing an infinite black screen. The audience stood in awe of the great screen, waiting for a message of some kind. Suddenly, another command was shouted from the official standing near the screen. Once again I couldn't quite hear what he was saying, but a moment later, it didn't matter.

The crowd suddenly shifted rapidly towards the screen, packing even closer towards the center of their attention. I was still on the ground.