Chapter 1: Fili Stradivarius.

There is no time to stop and ask questions. The only option is escape. For the past 2 years, running was the only option.

A boy with dark brown hair, and a denim jacket looked onwards at the portal before him. His torso and head were bleeding out from the injuries he sustained escaping from whomever was pursuing him. The heavy rainfall helped to wash away most of the blood, but not all the scars he had. Looking back at the flames behind him, the boy saw three silhouettes carrying some sort of weapon coming closer.
There was no time to stall.

He had to cross through now. "Elva, tuseqdil modum." which meant 'Goodbye, beloved home.'
The child had no idea where the portal would take him. Inter-Universal travel was not an exact science and carried a lot of risks. Of course he knew nothing of the dangers of portal travel and Universe compatibility. He just knew the portal would take him somewhere far away from the three men who are after him.

"Tu tanmut vireve mun tesump!" You only live one time, he said to himself as he ran towards the white vortex in front of him.

When the flames died out, the soldiers in grey armor found the boy was gone, as was the portal he opened. It was of no consequence. As one of the soldiers pointed out in another language, they could just re-open the portal and follow the boy through. One of the soldiers asked his commanding officer "Ruqae nos sequipermur rupe quamus?" Meaning 'Why are we chasing the kid anyway?'

The commander wore the same gray armor as his soldiers, in addition to a polymer helmet covering his entire head. He responded in perfect English.
"Because the boy has something King Bex wants. I don't know what it is, but I don't think it's worth burning down the whole neighborhood to find him. Kid must be scared for his life." The soldier who had asked him quickly replied as if his life depended on it.

"HEY! Non tepost tiosequa Rex Bex!" the smaller soldier said, meaning 'You can't question King Bex!' The commander took his helmet off to get some air, revealing long black hair and fair skin.
"I know, bad stuff happens when I question him. But hasn't it occurred to you that Bex doesn't stand a chance if we all band together and take him down?"

The muscular soldier holstered his assault rifle and laid his hands on both shoulders of his commander. "You fool. Even in his crippled state, he can still wipe us all out! Not to mention all the mind slaves he has. The only reason he needs us is because he can't walk! And I don't feel like being disintegrated today!"

The commander took the soldier's arms off his shoulders. "I guess you're right. But even still, we don't exactly have to listen. Or at least we don't have to follow orders efficiently. Let's just go back to the barracks and say the portal needs time to recharge. That'll at least buy the kid some time." he said looking over at a nearby console.

The commander was in luck, because the monitor on the console did in fact say "Recharging. Ceplare expetabo 24 horas queus hudac uti. Tibi tisagra ago pro esvrat petianati." 'Please wait at least 24 hours until further use. Thank you for your patience.' Looks like he didn't need to lie to King Bex after all.

"Marcus, tell King Bex that it will be a while until the portal can open again. Try to stall if you can, but not too long. Geo non possum rupe ehabre theamana." said the commander in a mixture of English and his native tongue. 'I can't afford for him to get his hands on the boy.' The muscular soldier at his right said "Roger!" and the blonde energetic soldier at his left said "Whatever you say Commander Flan!" and ran off with Marcus.

Before the soldier on his left could go any further, Flan put his hand on his shoulder and said "Faris, can you stay and wait for the High Commander with me?"
"Ok! Got it!"

This was Squad One of the newly implemented Lethfalgna Military, a replacement for the security force in the city.

Faris was eager to follow orders from Flan, because at least his Commanding officer wouldn't make him do anything too drastic and insane, unlike their King Bex who would order him and his fellow troops to do things they would never want to do. Pillaging, mindless slaughter of those who opposed the King, and other things a King never did. Flan only had Faris and his squad do basic security patrols and repairs of vehicles and machinery. Only very rarely would they do morally ambiguous operations. He was happy to follow orders as long as they came from Flan.

Marcus on the other hand just wanted to go home to his family. But he can't go home because, like the rest of
Bex's army, he was forced to do the King's bidding with his family held hostage. Luckily, he wasn't made into a mind slave like most of the soldiers. He's not sure what happened to his comrades in the Dark Knights, but he was sure they escaped the city long ago.

As for Flan, he never really knew where Bex came from. Reports say he emerged from a cave north of Lethfalg, but he wasn't too sure of that. Others say it's the same Bex from the back when times. The very sorcerer who was sealed long ago. He also thought that to be unlikely.

All he knew is that he usurped the Lethfalgna throne, and two Paladins sacrificed themselves to cripple his legs and render him immobile.
But none of that mattered now. All Faris, Flan, and Marcus had to worry about was preparing the fleet to travel to whatever universe the boy went to.

Hopefully, the boy dies somewhere he will never be found.

Meanwhile inside the portal, the boy was floating in the white Nullspace that promised to take him far away from those men who were chasing him earlier.
This boy's name was Fili. Fili Stradivarius. Two years of his life were spent running away from... Well, he didn't know WHO or WHAT was after him.

All he knew was that some scary man came into town, killed some people, and made himself King. His mom and dad left to go somewhere and didn't come back, and now men with guns and other weapons were trying to do god-knows-what to his body.

(What are they after? Why are they chasing me?) he thought to himself as he floated endlessly in the void. Fili thought that those men were chasing him because he did something wrong without knowing, but it might also be that they were after something he had.

Now was not the time to think about that. The white void that surrounded Fili was starting to fade away. About time too. He thought he would be stuck in the Nullspace forever. His feet finally found relative comfort in solid ground, with wet grass helping to lessen the impact of his fall.

The whiteness finally faded away and Fili found himself near the shore of a very large lake. It must have rained earlier, because there was a very fine mist covering the blue water. On the other side of the lake stood what looked like a large house in the distance, with very few windows.

"Ubi sum? Duqi tes cho qul?" he said, meaning 'Where am I? What is this place?'

Rustling was heard in a dense forest behind Fili. He was stranded in the middle of nowhere, so of course there would be animals somewhere. In addition to rustling in the bushes and trees, a low growling was heard. Something had spotted him, and it didn't sound like a friendly greeting to him. A wolf slowly crawled out of the forest and onto the beach where Fili stood, bearing it's salivating fangs and bloodstained claws to the child.
(A wolf... so they have wolves in this world.) Fili thought to himself as he backed away closer to the lake behind him.

This was usually the part where his father, Phillip, would come in with his Gunblade and scare the wolf away while his mother, Bella, would tell him to 'Remane orter' or 'Stay back' as his dad took care of whatever animal was harassing him. Afterward, they would go home from their camping trip because the boy was scared stiff and wouldn't do anything.

But his parents weren't there for him anymore, and all he could do was run away. If he could get to that house across the lake, then maybe the wolf will get bored and leave him alone. Unfortunately, Fili couldn't run fast enough. Not only that, but the wolf was not alone. And they all looked hungry for his flesh. The only thing that Fili could do was attempt to fight back. After all, his father was a Paladin. Maybe he has the same fighting spirit he had?

The wolves proved how wrong he was.