A hooded figure walked up inside a cathedral. He was walking hastily, as if he was afraid that somebody would see him. In his arms he was carrying a large, green and black locust statue that had glowing green eyes.

He walked up to the altar that had a throne-like chair behind it, and he placed the locust there. Immediately, a swirl of black, dark energy enveloped the cathedral, and it was focused on the throne-like chair. The shadows kept swirling until a figure materialized from it. It only had eyes that were cascading between red and green, whilst his whole body were just black flames. He also seemingly had wings, and he sat on his throne like chair nonchalantly.

"Ah," He said, with a hoarse, gravelly voice. "The Locust of Pestilence. Good job, Kaerzt."

The hooded figure flipped his hood, unveiling an old man, with slick white hair. He was smirking, "Thank you, My Lord Mors."

"Now all we need is the last ingredient, yes?" He said, igniting a black ball of flame and playing with it. "And then we will have enough magic to raise all of the dead."

"Yes," Kaerzt – the hooded figure – said, bowing his head. "But My Lord – what then?"

A green flame streaked across Mors' shadowy face, making a smile. "Then we rule."

2: Chapter 1: Rallying Skeletons

A loud, bellowing roar echoed across the land, awaking Corinth from his deep slumber. He recognized that sound – it was the Summoning Warhorn – an item used only for dangerous emergencies in need of the official military group of the Kingdom Of Shen: the Naphli.

With a loud grunt, Corinth forced himself off of his bed, and onto the shower. Trying to do it as quickly as his will could allow him… which wasn't so quick. For Corinth, no emergency is important enough that it should prevent his sleep, yet he had to heed the call of the Warhorn since if he doesn't, he would be kicked from the Naphli, and in turn, lose his ability to support his parents. Now that he wouldn't do. Even if it meant that he would give up his sleep. He does not want to return to his life before.

Within a few minutes, he had carried himself onto the traditional armor of the Naphli, a body fitting carbon fiber suit. It had a very futuristic look to it, and allowed protection and movement. It was colored white, with highlights of black and purple, and every one had a shoulder pad that had the insignia of the Naphli – a cross that had four wings jutting out from behind it.

The cross basically meant nothing to others – they would even change theirs something else! Yet Corinth– who was a firm believer – kept it and wore it with pride – even dubbing himself a "Soldier of the Cross." Or better yet, a "Sleepy Soldier of the Cross."

The armor itself was a very impressive piece of technology as it allowed the wearer to accomplish a plethora of things. It's known for allowing the wearer to endure huge amounts of pain, and also gave the wearer a swift regenerative healing ability.

Corinth was already in his slimline undersuit, so all he had to do was equip the exoskeleton. He put on the gauntlets which had a lot of things going on in it. While the communication system was fundamental, you could customize your gauntlet with several other stuff like grappling hooks, blades, EMP generators and the like. The boots were similar, where you can equip it with various things like rocket boots, extra blades and such. The sleek black, carbon chausses were made for holding several weapons – although Corinth only had a sword on his. The armor was a body fitting one, which was – while not magic proof, it is magic resistant, so it's still essential for any armorset of a Naphli. The helmet was also an option, although Corinth decided not to.

After putting on his armor, he readied himself and went out of his room.

He took the elevator down, leaving his apartment with a slack face and a slouched, sleepy posture. He passed the sliding main doors of his apartment, and ran along with other soldiers of the Naphli.

"Morning," One soldier who seemed young, with his hair tied into a ponytail, greeted him. Corinth didn't greet back.

"Keep your eyes on the road soldier. You might trip over yourself," Corinth remarked and zoomed off, sprinting to get ahead of the others. He didn't really like conversations. They seemed too time consuming. While others would talk, he would rather be dozing off or sleeping. It's Corinth's bad habit of falling to sleep if he's not being pumped with the adrenaline of battle.

The Kingdom of Shen was a beautiful place in the world of Eolus. It was situated in the Western Countries, and stood beside another powerful Kingdom: Frontinus. Frontinus was in the north, with Shen to the south of it.

The Kingdom was built with a sleek design. It had tall buildings that seemed to pierce the heavens. Those were called "Skypiercers." It had roads of asphalt, mixed with roads of clay. Plants and trees were abundant in almost every spot. There were as many trees as there were automobiles: transportation vehicles that were used for convenient and fast travelling. There were different kinds – some floated off the ground, some were long so it would fit many people in them, some where two wheelers that had handles on them – those were called bicycles.

On the center of it all is the walled off castle of the Shen Royal Family. Shen was so named after its founder – Evan Shen – and all his descendants were the only ones allowed to rule the Kingdom. Some of the following monarchs were good, while the majority were bad. Fortunately, the current ruler – Queen Vitra – seemed to be a good one.

In the core of the castle itself was the supposedly infinite power source of the Kingdom of Shen – the Orb of Arcana. It was a supernatural orb given by one of the Forgotten Gods – Hecate – after the End Wars.

What were the End Wars? Well, they were a series of wars that was said to have brought the end to a powerful, seemingly entwined race of Humanity. It was a war when Vice and Sin were at its peak, and most people were so vicious, that even the Forgotten Gods themselves went down and fought with them –enjoying the war, strife and plain old primitive violence that the Humans had devolved into. The war did not go well, and it ended up destroying most of Eolus. Some of the remaining humans fought over territories, and here in the western did the Kingdoms arise. Here was the territory of Shen, which was below the Kingdom of Frontinus. To the west were more kingdoms that had been warring with the other territories for a while, wanting more and more expansion. Soon, it would end up as another End Wars.

Corinth raced with the other soldiers to the Western city gate – which was where the Summoning Warhorn was situated. As such – although the soldiers weren't held in barracks – they were required to stay within the Warhorn's limits.

After a few more miles, they finally reached the Gathering Pavilion – a large, round roofed area against the city wall and beside the Western Exit where the Warhorn as the middle of. On one side, near the wall itself – was the Commander Cygnus Winters, or – as most of the soldiers would call him – Pretty Boy Commander. It was true – he was supposedly handsome, with luscious golden hair that bounced off his shoulders, and a body that was hard to get. Corinth himself was too stocky to look like a sexy, well built man like Cygnus, and it didn't help that he was looming over almost anyone with a hunched back.

It seemed that Cygnus was only really waiting for Corinth, because once Corinth stopped, saluted and walked to the back did Cygnus start talking. "Alright, Gentlemen, we're not hunters, but this will be an exception. The Western Kingdom of Mortis has sent an abomination to our walls, threatening to bring it down if we don't hand over the Orb of Arcana. Of course, we can't allow that, so we have to hunt down the monster before it breaches our walls. It's a rather large one, easily toppling our forty feet walls, so we have to bring it down as soon as possible," Cygnus projected a screen on top of his head, showing the bird's eye view map of the Kingdom. It was a circular kingdom looking like a bowl, with walls that were high enough to repel invaders. Should there be any flying units; Anti Air Weapons were most of the time enough to bring them down.

The Kingdom was large enough that it had three islands in them. The island near the Western gate – where most of the Naphli were – was called Mattox, referring to Evan Shen's wife Mattox Shen. To the right was a large island – larger than Mattox – and was called the Faelcone which was the sword of Evan Shen. To the south was Split Island, which was an island that Shen only had a half of, hence the name. The other half belonged to a powerful race of Spellcasters that didn't want to be part of the Kingdom, and as such, fought against the Shen's expansion. The Spellcasters were a lot more powerful than any of Evan's troops, so he was forced to retreat and leave the Spellcasters in peace.

"I will be assigning a huge squad to try to kill the monster in combat, while another squad to try to repel it. All Naphli are required to stay here in case of the need of reinforcements," Cygnus said. He pointed at the screen, which as showing clear feed of the kingdom and the monster which was indeed colossal. It towered over Shen's walls, and seemed as if it could bring down the wall in one strike. "For the Hunting Squad, it would be composed of me, Eli Bullheart, Naomi Go, Blaise Ericson, Jonathan Vicente, and Corinth Wincenty." Corinth was taken aback at the mention of his name. He didn't even know that the Commander knew his name! He was sure that he would just be put back into reinforcements, seeing as he didn't do a lot as a Naphli, but he was picked. He smiled as the Hunting Party rallied beside the Cygnus. Corinth felt his excitement bubble inside him. He loved the adrenaline of battle. It kept him awake, and is basically one of the only things that would keep him awake. Nothing else would. He loved the thrill of it. The longer the battle went, the better, because he became more and more deadly as adrenaline built inside of him. Call him an adrenaline junkie, but that was who he is.

Corinth didn't bother listening to the names of the Repel Squad – he was too excited to. Adrenaline almost filled his ears. One thing was for sure, though: it was mostly women.

"The goal of the Hunting Squad is to bring down the monster, while the repel squad will be in charge of repelling it and pushing it as far back as they could. The repel squad is in charge of the Anti Air Missiles, and the Nails," The repel squad giggled with giddiness. The Nails were powerful weapons of Shen that were built into its walls. They were long, spear like rods with super sharp tips that were constantly rotating. They looked like the sharp tips of nails, thus the name.

As Cygnus was about to speak again, a low, hoarse roar sounded over the area, and Cygnus reached for his back, where a long sword had popped out. "No time to waste. Let's move!" Cygnus boldly jumped off the stage he was on and ran toward the Western Gate, and the Hunting Party followed him. Corinth ran with them, smiling all the time.

"Why're you so happy?" A female voice asked him, and he turned to his right to see a tall, pale skinned woman that seemed to have an Eastern Country descent in her. It seemed kind of strange for Corinthto see a woman of Eastern Country Descent here in Shen, which was in the Western Countries.

"Because I finally get to go out into the field." Corinth answered, keeping the pace up with the female.

"Oh? Well, you're the first one I've seen to be excited to go kill something," She said as the group came to a stop in front of the gate. Cygnus talked with the gate guards, and the two huge, gothic looking ivory gates opened, and they went outside. "Naomi, by the way," She outstretched her hand, and Corinth grabbed it.

"Corinth," He smiled as they left the kingdom's walls.

Outside the city walls were numerous forests, plains, and wastelands. Actually, most of them are wastelands because of the destruction caused by the End Wars. The monster was directly beside the Western Gate, patiently waiting for Shen's answer. It was huge, and seemingly made of bones. It looked like a huge skeletal abomination with some flesh splattered here and there. Its back had tentacles jutting out of them, although instead of suction cups, it was lined with fierce spikes.

Cygnus ran toward a nearby trench, and called for the Party to huddle around him. "Alright, this is the plan," He said, igniting his pointer finger with a blue flame. As he traced his finger around, the blue flame on his finger left a trail, so it looked like as if he were drawing on a chalkboard. He drew a large circle, which seemed to be Shen, another large circle that was beside the Shen, which seemed to be the skeletal tentacle abomination, and then he made six dots, which was probably the Party. "I'm the magic user here, and I'm capable of Celestial spells, which are very effective against those kinds of monsters. Two Celestial Spears should bring him down," Cygnus said, a little boasting in his voice.

"Then I guess we're done here!" A dark haired man stood and clasped his hands together. "Can we go eat now? We hadn't had breakfast yet-"

"Sit down, Vicente!" Cygnus answered him, and Vicente was smart enough to sit down at his command. "Celestial Spears are one of the longest spells to make, so I'm going to need somebody to distract the thing while I charge it up," seemed to have forgotten about the little drawing he had been doing, because it was slowly fading away.

"Vicente, Bullheart, and Ericson, you're strong enough to try and distract it. Go and Wincenty, on me. You guard me while I prepare the spell-" The abomination roared once again, and missiles started flying. "That's our cue." Cygnus got up, preparing to dash to higher ground for a clear shot.

"That's the strategy?" Ericson asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Cygnus answered. "That, and don't die." And Cygnus dashed off, with Corinth and Naomi following him.

Corinth was kind of appalled that he didn't get to do the important distracting thing, but at least he was finally on the field. He mostly did mundane Naphli tasks such as capture criminals, investigate some crime scenes and be detective for some murders. Although most did consider him as having a great deductive mind, he still found that detective work didn't really fulfil his needs for a thrill – which he found in his past life - so he found himself falling asleep after solving every case.

Cygnus ran toward a small hill which was relatively near the abomination, and he started the spell. He raised his right arm up, with a palm open, as if he were preparing to catch something from the sky, and started chanting some words that were English, but Corinth barely understood them. All he heard was "Celestial Spear" and "Smite" and "Evil". Although Corinth had a great deductive ability, he was terribly book dumb. He admitted that. So instead of focusing on Cygnus, he focused on his surroundings, thinking where danger might strike. They were in a pretty open field, so not a lot of dangers could be hiding. If anything came rushing toward them, Corinth would see them before they even get a few meters from Cygnus.

The abomination roared once more, and Corinth looked around to see the Nails pierce the skeletal monster, rotating viciously, and sending the few flesh it had flying. Missiles were also being launched at it, but it seemed to do little to nothing against the monster.

They weren't that far, so Corinth could clearly see the three Naphli slicing, dodging and weaving around the monster, distracting the abomination from Cygnus' spell. Corinth was amazed at how brave they were to confront this monster. The Naphli were known to do extraordinary feats, but Corinth was still amazed. They would risk their life for Shen!

Before long, the abomination grew angry, and it slammed its fist on the floor near the wall. The earth shook, throwing almost everybody off balance. Those that were near the abomination were blown off from their feet, and landed a few spaces away from the fist. It was that strong.

As the abomination raised its fist, a black, gaping hole was made where it hit the ground. From that hole came a wave of skeletal… things. All of them seemed to be a jumble of bones, with some looking like humans, others like humans but on four feet, others like birds and cats, and there were even some that looked like flying reptiles! They were many, and were as much as an army, but the three warriors distracting the abomination shrugged the skeletal additions off like they were some weak hands that were just holding them back. The wave spread out; there were a lot of them.

A third of the skeletal minions raced toward the gate, another few scaled the wall, throwing the Repel Team in disarray. The other third of the minions dashed toward the hill where Cygnus was charging the almost completed Celestial Spear, which was shining with a bright radiance.

Corinth readied his weapons, pulling his black, cruciform sword from its hilt. Naomi was wearing a weird, trench coat version of the Naphli uniform, which was made for those that wanted more movement even though the normal armor was perfectly fine. Corinth sometimes thought that they just did it for the fashion, even though the armor was cool looking enough.

Naomi pulled two pistols from their pistols, and started blasting the skeletons. Corinth did the same, rushing forward and slicing and dicing some minions. He sliced one by the hip, and then one by the neck. He then slammed his shield forcefully, hitting the skeleton that was to his left. The skeletons were rabid, jumping over themselves, wanting a piece of Corinth. Soon enough, he was surrounded… and he liked it. He grinned as he spun around, slicing skeletons in a wide arc. The protection the armor gave was awesome, as it was enough for Corinth to block against the light scratches of the minions.

Not soon after, a skeletal flying reptilian came around – a skeletal dragon. It dove toward Corinth, but the warrior just nonchalantly bashed his shield with near perfect timing as its head was in front of him. The result was the dragon exploding into a rain of bones, and Corinth looking like a boss.

"Smite thy enemy!" Corinth heard Cygnus shout, and he threw the Celestial Spear toward the abomination. The spear was large, and at the same time quick. It made a cone shaped barrier of wind around it as it flew toward the abomination. The abomination unluckily looked back at the last minute, and the spear ended up impaling its face. The abomination was sent tumbling backward, near the wall, and the Repel Team at the same time launched another set of Nails, piercing the now staggering giant. It stood no chance, and the nails made quick work of the remaining bones. The abomination exploded in a viscous blast of bones and viscera.

Cygnus was wrong – it only took one Celestial Spear and one nail to bring it down.

The skeletons seemed to be shocked at what happened to their summoner, but kept clawing at Corinth, who as lightly slicing them as he watched the Celestial Spear plus Nail finisher spectacle. He quickly regained consciousness though, and started fighting back the hordes of skeleton minions. Corinth went on a slicing flurry, taking out most skeletons in sight.

There were a lot of them, but a slicing wave of Celestial energy sliced and dissipated most of them. The Celestial Energy filled blade didn't seem to affect Corinth or Naomi at all; it just pushed them a little. Corinth looked over at Cygnus, who was smirking, until he looked at the Western Gates. His eyes went wide. "Help the troops inside! Everybody fall back inside the walls!" He commanded and dashed toward the gate.

Corinth glanced quickly at Naomi, and then quickly dashed after the Commander.

Corinth was quick enough to catch up with the Cygnus as he pushed inside the gates. Corinth followed after Cygnus inside, and saw a wave of skeletons, crashing against a wave of Naphli. They were fighting with all their might, but they were being overpowered. "Cygnus, do your Celestial Sweep thing again," Corinth said, but Cygnus just shook his head.

"I can't. Most of the magic's been drained from me now. I have to rest for a bit before my magic comes back," He gravely answered. "But that doesn't mean I can't fight!" Cygnus roared, and he ran into the skeletons. A tall, burly man with a hammer – Bullheart, Corinth presumed - followed after him after giving a shocking war cry that surprised Corinth. Now, Corinth wasn't the vocal guy. Even if he likes the thrill of battle and risks, he keeps it to himself. So he just brandished his cruciform sword once again, and ran into the melee.

Corinth went and sliced one as he dashed, and then jumped up, leaping savagely toward a small group, which he quickly cleaved through. He began to slice anything that came his way. Soon enough, he was in front of a wall of skeletons. This did not faze him, though. He furiously swung his sword around, like a flurry, and quickly slashed the wall apart.

Soon enough, the skeletons have been thinned out, and the Naphli finished them off. Corinth targeted one that was quietly limping, and gave the skeleton one, final thrust. As the skeleton fell to the ground and exploded, Corinth sheathed his blade, and his shield folded back into his arm gauntlet.

A silence fell over the barren battlefield. "Well," Corinth looked around on the sea of bones around them. "Who'll clean this up?" Laughter burst from the Naphli.

"Good job, Naphli," Cygnus said, smiling. He clapped his hands. "Everyone into the Pavilion!" The Naphli quickly followed the Commander Cygnus inside.

Corinth didn't go with the others, though. He checked if Naomi were still alive.

"Yes, yes, I'm alive. Stop shouting," She smiled as she materialized out of nowhere and patted Corinth on the back. "Not bad for the first time in the field."

"Thanks," Corinth smiled, and then quickly looked for the others. Bullheart was inside the Pavilion, alongside Vicente, yet Blaise Ericson was nowhere to be found. Cygnus quickly addressed the issue, though, as Corinth and Naomi went inside the Pavilion.

"We've lost a member of this Hunting Party: Blaise Ericson. He'd been an erudite soldier. He was a great tactician and we honor him for his deeds." Cygnus quietly bowed his head for a few seconds, and then raised them afterwards.

"Yet today, Ericson helped repel yet another attempt of stealing our Orb: the magical artefact that powers our Kingdom. That is part of the job of a Naphli. We keep the order and peace, serve as an army, and defend Shen until our final breath," The Naphli cheered, except for Corinth, who was just sleepy by now. "Alright Naphli: back to your posts!" Cygnus dismissed them, and they dispersed. As Corinth was about to go back to his post – which was actually just the Naphli Headquarters, since he's the resident detective – when Cygnus shouted, "Wincenty," He beckoned. "Damn that's a mouthful."

"Hm?" Corinth looked back as Cygnus walked up to him. "Why, Commander?"

"Straighten up, soldier, the Queen wants to see you."

 

3: Chapter 2: Queen Vitra

Corinth and Cygnus made their way over to the center of the Mattox island of Shen. There were lots of bustling people around, cars, and construction workers all doing their best for the sake of Shen. Right now, Shen is one of the strongest forces out there in Eolus, and thus, a lot of competition. Shen is currently fighting to stand their ground over the influences of the Western Mortis and the Southern Kreiss. Unlike those kingdoms, Shen is not currently wanting to occupy and conquer more lands, but rather just content surviving, being content with their current place in the world.

After manoeuvring through the numerous main roads of Shen, they came across the heart of the whole kingdom – The Regal Bastion: the large wall built for the royal family. It is a large, walled of structure smack dab in a clearing in the middle of the island of Mattox. Within the walls is the Palace of Shen, where the current queen resides in. The Bastion basically looks like a smaller Shen within Shen. It had four gates that are on the large, round wall surrounding the inner place. Each gate has two guards guarding them, one on the inside and another on the outside.

Why does the Regal Bastion have such few guards? Well, that's because basically the Naphli are the guards. They serve as the Royal Guards as well as being the law enforcement, hence why the Naphli are split into two groups – The Royal Guard and The Law Keepers. The Royal squad are only here in the island of Mattox, while the Law Keepers are the ones that are stationed all across the three islands. Cygnus is part of the Royal Guard, while Corinth is part of the Law Keepers.

Usually, the Law Keepers don't even get anywhere near the Regal Bastion, so this experience is actually new for Corinth. Which is kind of ironic, considering how'd he'd been before, and now he's working with the same force he had been escaping from and the Queen he used to loathe so much.

The walls were made of clay, cement and some iron, with a floating, invisible barrier around it, being powered by the Orb of Arcana that the Bastion cradles. Cygnus and Corinth worked their way through the several workers, Royal Guards and some activists who were part of this cult that said that the Queen Vitra was actually a spy for the Kingdom of Frontinus. Yeah, a very crazy city they have going on.

Finally, Cygnus and Corinth moved over to the Naphli guarding the western gate. The guard immediately saw Cygnus coming his way, and immediately opened the iron door that has some kind of mechanism on its right side that is glowing blue. The guard just placed his uncovered palm on the glowing blue hexagon the size of a basketball, and the gate slid open.

"Commander," the guard saluted Cygnus, and he saluted back. Corinth just kind of slid inside with Cygnus. He didn't know if he should've saluted too or something.

Inside the wall was a large, gothic cathedral looking structure, with spires that pierce the sky. They were the spires that could be seen from outside the all. The structure was large and… well… royal; fitting for the ruling family of Shen.

The royal structure was very peaceful, and there's not a lot of sound - only a soft humming. Corinth immediately concluded that the soft humming was the barrier, and it was soundproof. That said, Corinth really thought that the family would be a little noisier or maybe party more. They were the Royal Family, right?

Well, Corinth was wrong. The Highborn of the Kingdom of Shen was actually a lot more posh than he had expected. They were graceful, elegant and dignified. Most of the Highborn lived inside the Regal Bastion, and almost never saw the real Shen outside of the Bastion. That was their loss, though.

Enoc hwas busy admiring the structure. He wasn't an architect or anything, but he knew what beautiful structures looked like. This was one of them. He admired it greatly, with its spires, and graphite colouring that greatly contrasted the gold tinge of the wall and the floor. Many Highborn are walking around leisurely, having probably their "Noon-time Stroll" or something. Corinth - other than being a sleepy head living off of thrills and risks - was also easily distracted, and he becomes oblivious to his surroundings if he is. Sure, when focused, Corinth was a great mind, but that greatness only comes so rarely that you'd better cherish the moment that he becomes an intellectual.

"Hey!" He heard a feminine voice with a very Highborn accent. It was an accent usually seen from the Royal Families, and Corinth thought it was kind of silly how they pronounce their words. Not saying the "T's" in the end of their words, or seemingly not wanting to pronounce "R" the way most people do. It's like their saying "Ah" instead. Corinth chuckled. "How rude," The feminine voice said again. He turned to the direction of the voice to see a Highborn female, probably around in her twenties or something, wearing a long white gown that had some sort of tail dragging across them.

The young lady herself was striking: high cheekbones and the like that you would deem beautiful. She was unusually pale, and had auburn hair. She wasn't tall or anything – in fact, she was even short – yet she seemed to radiate dignity and loomed over Corinth.

"I'm sorry, milady." He told the lady. He was doing his best to be polite, but to Corinth, this was just going to be another pain. He'd dealt with snobby Highborn before in some cases, and if you upset them, get ready for a swirling tornado of words that don't have "T" in them and words pronounced with "Ah's". Corinth chuckles every time he'd hear the accent, so he had to focus so much on keeping himself from bursting into laughter every time a Highborn would get angry at him that he wouldn't even the hear what the Highborn would be saying.

"You'd better look where you're going," She said, with a slight puff. Then her emerald green eyes – the greenest eyes Corinth had ever seen – squinted and said, in disbelief, "Are you laughing?"

Corinth abruptly stopped. He knew he was dead. The Highborn were rich enough to afford classes of Magic, so they were magic users. This lady could just well summon a meteor and blast Corinth to the Greater Ocean, where she'd freeze him, and then send a gale strong enough to send him to the moon.

Fortunately, Cygnus was an expert in handling Highborn, and he stepped in just when it seemed that the lady was about to brandish her sceptre. "Sorry, milady. Please excuse my friend; he's merely laughing at how incompetent he was when dealing with people of your calibre. As a Law Keeper Naphli, he hasn't met a lot of Highborn."

Actually, I have, thought Corinth.

The lady made a weird face that seemed somehow ashamed, but at the same time proud. This woman is hard to read, thought Corinth once more.

A dark-skinned hand tugged on the lady's dress. "Noel? Who're you talking to?" A cute, little dark-skinned girl around her teenage years jutted her head behind the lady –who we now know as Noel. She lovingly turned back to the girl.

"Nothing, Aria, it's just a small issue," She said, stroking the girl's dark hair. The teenager – Aria – was peculiarly wearing a gold blind fold. Corinth thought that it was for fashion, but decided against it. She might be blind.

"Did I hear Naphli?" She perked up. "Is Commander Cygnus there?" Noel smiled.

"Yes," She looked over to Cygnus. "Aria is a big fan of the Naphli."

"I could tell." Corinth interjected.

"Can I touch your blade, Commander?" She asked. A pretty dangerous request, but Cygnus smiled anyway.

"Sure, but only the hilt. It's dangerous to hold the blade." He took out his sword, which was a large, cruciform great sword, and gave the hilt for the teenager to hold.

"Duh," She said as she took hold of the hilt. She was smiling all the way through. She was feeling it and caressing it. Corinth concluded that she was, indeed, blind. Really, Einstein? You don't say!? Corinth thought, being sarcastic to nobody but himself. "Thanks, Commander," She said, appreciatively as Cygnus took the sword back.

"Alright, Aria. Let's go. We've got to meet the Queen." Noel pulled way Aria, guiding her by holding her hand.

After a short pause, Cygnus looked over to Corinth and gesture for him to enter the Royal Palace. "Come on, the Queen has to see us too."

Corinth nodded, and they left.

Entering the large doors of the Palace inside the Bastion, the first room is actually the throne room that had a long, gold carpet that leads up a short flight of stairs that leads to the throne of the queen. To both sides of the throne are more stairs that lead to the inner workings of the large, gothic palace.

The tiles of the palace are a bright gleaming white - so white that Corinth could see himself in it; as if he were looking into a mirror. He and Cygnus walked up the long room, and then stopping before the flight of stairs that lead to the throne. They immediately fell to their knees, and the Queen looked at them.

"Stand up, soldiers," She said, with her rather… smooth voice. Corinth and Cygnus both stood up at the order.

The Queen was young… and beautiful. Her beauty was ravishing. She had smooth caramel brown skin that shone as the light reflected on it. She was wearing a regal gown, complete with shoulder pads that had two wings on each shoulder. She had purple eyes, and very red lips.

Yet she looked bored. Or maybe, she was just sleepy. Either way, Corinth couldn't put his finger on what expression she was… expressing. She looked at Cygnus, and smiled a little.

"Why did you call us here, my queen?" Cygnus inquired, still with his head bowed. Corinth could tell that he truly revered the Queen.

This time, the Queen put on a look that Corinth could identify – she was worried. "I've called you here, my brave Naphli, for a rather grave job," There was that accent again. "Aria, please come out here." She beckoned, calling someone from the doors on both sides of the throne. The door slid open, and out came the previous, dark-skinned girl with the blindfold that Corinth and Cygnus met just a second ago! And with her was the same, dark red haired Highborn lady Noel.

Now theories started coming up onto Corinth's mind. Could the Noel lady be her mother? Or maybe her maid, sister or keeper? Maybe just her friend?

"Aria is a citizen of Mortis," the Queen informed them, and the Naphli were almost immediately shocked. How could a citizen of a Kingdom that had attacked them come here? "She was lost in here when the last raiding party of Mortis came to try to kidnap some of our citizens. Aria somehow got mixed into them, and ended up here, where we cared for her."

"Queen Vitra has been very delightful toward me." She smiled and nodded, doing her best to do that Highborn Accent. Corinth felt stupid that he didn't immediately recognize that she wasn't probably a Highborn because she didn't have that accent. "Yet, I do woefully miss my family."

"Yes, darling," Queen Vitra turned to Aria, stroking her hair. "We'll get you back there. The brave Naphli will help you return to your kingdom." Vitra turned to the two warriors. "You two will be in charge of returning her to the central kingdom of Mortis."

"But my Queen," Cygnus started. "It is incredibly dangerous to travel all the way there. Numerous dangers block the path." He was right. The land between Mortis and Shen is a very desolate and dangerous place filled with dangers Corinth had never seen before.

Of course, Corinth was thrilled by the idea.

"Exactly why I've tasked both of you to travel all the way there, together with Aria here, and her caretaker Noel." She answered.

Corinth was confused. Why would the Queen suddenly want him - a lowly Naphli detective commoner - to go with the commande ron an extremely dangerous mission? "Wait, your majesty. Why me? There are a lot of other, stronger soldiers than me."

"Oh, don't put yourself down, love," She said, smiling. "You are stronger than you think. Do not worry. You will prove yourself in this mission." Her tone was direct and had no doubts behind it, unlike Corinth.

"What are you-" But Corinth wasn't able to say anymore. The Queen was a powerful being, so she simply flicked her wrist, and Cygnus and Corinth were both blown back by a powerful force. The force was so strong that they were both blown off their feet, and landed on their bums.

"Ugh," Corinth groaned as he got up to his feet and helped Cygnus up. "These Magic Users are powerful."

"Damn right they are," Cygnus agreed as he stood. "No kind of Empowerments would match natural magic. Really." Corinth knew that Empowerments are what the lower class of people here in Shen take so that they could have supernatural magic of their own, since they can't afford schools of are very high in demand, and most of the time, you can only get them if you smuggle them... or if you're as wealthy as a Highborn. Find out which one they go with often.

"Yeah. I don't really take those kind of things because they tend to mess with you're body. Good thing you're a natural one too, right?" Corinth asked. Cygnus was on his gauntlet, checking the current status of the main fleet. His job as a Commander only extends to the unit here in Mattox, yet he still ahs some power in the other branches.

Cygnus paused for a second before answering. "Yeah. Good thing indeed."

"Good that you know that Empowerments are bad for you." That annoying Highborn accent again. Corinth turned to see a similar, Auburn haired woman with a blindfolded kid. Noel, was it? "Anyway, we leave tomorrow at dawn. I'm hoping that we could get there in three days maximum."

Who told her that she was the leader? Corinth thought, yet Cygnus just agreed immediately. It seemed that Cygnus was the ultimate buttmonkey for Highborn.

"That means we have plenty of time to ready ourselves," Cygnus turned to Corinth. "Wincenty, outside the wall so Shen is an extremely dangerous place. Everything that is out there will eat you alive."

"So? We're humans. We could live anywhere. Anything that tries to eat us, we bit back. Remember?" Corinth replied, rather sarcastically. Cygnus didn't seem tog et it, though.

"Just be prepared, alright?" Cygnus growled, and Corinth nodded. "Good. Now, you'll be staying here with Noel for the night with Aria, just in case any spies or assassins attempt to grab her."

Corinth wondered. "Wouldn't that be good? Isn't she from Mortis?"

"She's just a Commoner from Mortis. The assassins would kill her if she was in their way. Intel says that the assassins and spies only work for the wealthier families of Mortis." Cygnus explained to him. This made sense somehow to Corinth, and he agreed.

"Alright, just let me tell my parents-"

"No need," Cygnus interrupted. "We've paid them a visit. They should know what's happening. They understand that it's an important mission." At this point, Corinth was reluctant to oblige, since he's always so faithful to his parents, yet it would seem good for them not to worry about him.

"Fine. I go sleep with Noel," Corinth shrugged, and Cygnus smiled.

"Good. Now I just have to make certain arrangements to the Naphli while we're gone. Noel," He turned to the auburn haired Highborn. "Don't bite."

Noel looked at Corinth in disgust. "Fine. We don't eat rats, anyway." Corinth scoffed. Was that directed at him?

"Well this rat doesn't eat spoiled food anyway," He said, looking into her eyes. Noel stared back defiantly, and Corinth knew that this would be the start of their colorful friendship.

Noel snapped her fingers, and a strong gust of wind blew Corinth off of his feet, and he crashed into Cygnus.

Corinth was wrong. THAT was the beginning of their colorful relationship.