From Zero



Two silhouttes, both veiled in shadows, gathered in a room overlooking a dismal city.

"The most auspicious course of action on apprehending him has eluded our minds. We seek your input, my lo-"

"There will be none." As this second figure interrupted, the atmosphere instantly became more oppressive.

"W-what? My lord!"

"Cali has carved out his own path. Now, he will walk down it. What nebulous future awaits him is his to discover. You have but one mission..." The larger, more menacing figure said with acerbity.

At once, the head of the smaller figure rose obsequiously.

"Ensure his arrival at said future." He ordered, peremptorily.

With only a subservient nod, the smaller figure rose and ambled away.

All that could be heard then was a sinister chuckle...

♦

Chapter 1 - Arche
I had been in quandary as to whether or not my choice to bid farewell to the empire was a good one. It was then, in moonlight's embrace, that I vacillated no more. I found them oddly soothing - the rhythmic chirping of the crickets, the torrential flow of the water crashing against the riverside. Things anyone remotely Chiss would look down on with disgust.

Here, resting on the seat of my Carrion Spike, I feel at peace. Free from the limiting expectations and duties hitherto placed on me and free to enjoy life to my heart's content. Suddenly, a bird chirped right behind me, and I flew out of my seat in shock.

"Dear Hux!" I shouted in surprise. The bird was indigo, with a lithe physique and a long beak. "Oh, dearest me..." I perused the landscape for any sort of shelter, and found a seemingly abandoned shack at a convenient distance. I put my Spike in "STASIS MODE", and opened the door to traipse toward the shack.

"Smells like sewer. Let's hope I haven't found Tegelen..." I commented on the pungent stench that permeated the shelter's interior. The shack itself, however, seemed like a nice place to reside in... for vagrants. It had an old-fashioned stove, one window overlooking the steep hill, and a surprisingly clean bed. The walls and floors were made of rotting wood, and reinforced with stone.

"Ugly..." I thought. As soon as I made contact with the bed, however, my reluctance was no more. Its embrace welcomed my body and kept it warm. It pretty much instantly cured the insomnia sleeping on the hard, uninviting Valencian beds gave me. With the moonlight as my blanket and the ambiance as my lullaby, I fell into a deep sleep faster and more willingly than I ever had before.

"......."