Tales of Zeroth

It had been half an hour since the Great Lich took Rapl and his party. Flying through the air on a dragon carriage, Rapl, Bok, Leena, Sevi, Alex, and Rico all occupied a small corner of the carriage; meanwhile, Artefus and Edwin took up most of it.

Although the promise of safety was presented to them, the party did not trust the Lich; their eyes were constantly locked on the Dark Lord. Artefus felt their tenseness as he played a game with Edwin, "We're not riding on a particularly fast dragon, so I recommend sleeping 'cause it's going to take a while to get there," Artefus pointed out.

But even with his recommendation, the party still felt uneasy, "Would you leave us be if we did?" Leena questioned, leading to the Great Lich to sigh.

"If I had any intentions to hurt you all, why would I keep you alive for this long?" Artefus returned, his voice sounding less angry and more tired. But seeing that the party did not heed his words, he lifted his hands and flicked his ring finger, "Sleep."

Suddenly, the bodies of the party felt relaxed as their eyes felt heavy; and soon after, they passed out. "You just wanted to sleep didn't you?" Edwin asked Artefus, which made the Great Lich nod.

"I had a busy day today," he stated as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes, "Go to Keiro, play him some songs, and take over for him when he gets too tired," Artefus commanded, but Edwin's brows curled.

"I rode us the way here! Why would I ride us back?" He growled, but before he could say anymore, he heard the snores of the Great Lich, "Damn you, your Majesty." Edwin made his way to the saddle area, "What tunes do you want Keiro?" He asked, trying to hide his annoyance.

Keiro smirked, "Give me some soft music, you've been to a Jiona concert before right? Play me Dance in the Grasslands."

Edwin sighed as he began to play, "You're still riding the last four hours home." It took the dragon eight hours to reach Nerio, with the party sleeping through all of it.

Nerio is named the Dark Capital because it is the headquarters of the dreaded Empire of Zan. However, it also has another reason for being named this way: out of any capital in the world, Nerio experiences the heaviest snowfall at certain times of the year, and this is also due to how the city was built.

Instead of an expansive city where buildings are made to spread out; due to the relatively small island it was built, Nerio was built more vertically. This led to the lower parts of the city rarely being reached by sunlight, giving it its infamous name.

"Wake up," a voice called from beyond Rapl's eyelids, "We're here now." The young adventurer recognized it as the voice of Edwin. Groggily, Rapl awoke, and instantly, his heart dropped as he saw Artefus in the corner of the carriage.

"Fret not child," Artefus remarked, silencing some of Rapl's worries, "Wake your friends up, we're approaching Nerio." Rapl did what he was told, slowly waking everyone up.

As everyone got up to speed, they noticed that they couldn't see anything aside from a blizzard. But even with the blizzard, they weren't cold; seeing the confusion on their faces, Edwin explained, "His Majesty put a warming spell on you all." On cue, Artefus appeared next to the party, startling everybody.

"Here we are," Artefus remarked as he stared into the blizzard. Leena's eyes readied, from what she had heard, the cities of Zan were built off the suffering of its people; where those on top rule those on the bottom, creating a massive class divide and making a dark shadow over the already dark capital.

But Leena's eyes grew wide open in shock. When they passed the blizzard, she saw a massive city with layers of buildings on top of each other. As she looked around, the quality of life of the bottom regions was the same as that of the top regions, observing kids running around playing with the snow as the morning called for them.

But what shocked Leena the most, was the city known as the Dark Capital had lights around every corner; illuminating the streets as the heavy blizzard was reduced to light snow by a spell cast around the whole city, "Welcome to Nerio," Artefus exclaimed with smile on his face. Rapl recognized that smile, it was the same smile his father would give him when Rapl would make him proud, "The City of Hope."

The dragon made its way to a castle located in the middle of the vertical city; it was made of black stone and it was intricately crafted to let the snow slide down the roofs. The dragon landed on a platform filled with other dragons in pens; it looked to be a stable, just outside the castle, "Thank you for your work Keiro," Artefus remarked as the rider bowed to his Emperor.

But on the sidelines, Edwin gave Artefus an annoyed gaze, "Anything for me? You know I rode half the way here?" Edwin pointed out. The party's eyes grew wide open in shock as Artefus chuckled, his laugh wasn't as terrifying as they thought it was going to be.

"Right right, of course, thank you, Edwin, you're always so reliable," the Lich remarked, as the group got to see Edwin light up more than he already was, "Not like the other two," sighed Artefus, but Edwin gave him a reassuring shoulder tap.

"Quix and Sheera have busier schedules than I do, cut them some slack," Edwin replied. Rapl was in shock at everything happening; aside from moving continents, the Lich, a person who has always been painted as an unfeeling monster, looked to be as much of a person as anyone he had met.

When Artefus realized the party he had taken was still a bit intimidated by his presence, he yet again moved his fingers a bit, and suddenly he shrunk down; the once towering figure was now only a few inches taller than Bok, "Body transformation, it's a useful magic art," he remarked as he beckoned the party to follow him, which they hesitantly did, but Edwin eased the tension a bit. Artefus saw this and he grinned, "Thank you, Edwin."

"You know your majesty?" The musician instantly replied, "Imagine if Quix or Sheera was here instead of me?" he laughed, making Artefus chuckle a bit. Artefus led the party inside the castle; it was dreadfully quiet aside from Edwin's constant talk. There was a sense of emptiness to it all that golden candlesticks, chandeliers, and expensive carpets didn't fill.

But Rapl noticed a feature that the inside of the castle had. Instead of brick walls facing outside of the castle, there were massive windows; and instead of facing all the glamor inside of his castle, Rapl saw that Artefus was looking out of the window, and when Rapl imitated what he did, he saw a living city.

Smiles and laughs from the everyday people, children playing in parks, merchants selling goods, and local mages heating the snow to make way. When Rapl looked back at Artefus, he saw a genuine smile from the Dark Lord.

The group continued walking until they came across a massive door; when Artefus opened it, they saw a massive table with rows of seats, "This is the royal dining hall, I was hoping for us to have our breakfast here," the Lich stated, leading to the group to accept, still on guard.

As Artefus took the head seat, Edwin and Rapl sat next to him; and in no time, the door opened again with butlers and maids approaching the group. The head butler, a clean-looking man with growing white hair, approached Artefus. Meanwhile, a maid approached Rapl, "What would you want today, sir?"

Like his entire party, Rapl was a bit stunned. Artefus saw this as he smiled at them. "Get whatever you want, Zanian chefs are the best in the world," he stated. But when Rapl and his party requested some ordinary meals, he was a bit perplexed. "Don't you want anything more?" he asked, but then Edwin interjected.

"Your majesty you literally asked for Penjin Hawk eggs."

In a fit of confidence, Sevi managed to actually open his mouth against the Lich, "I-It's all I eat, it's also all I k-know," he exclaimed, but as he turned to Artefus, he saw a smile come from Lich's face; and for a split second, all the fears he had for Artefus went away.

"I understand now, it's always good eating something you're familiar with to ease your nerves a bit," he remarked, but when the maids and butlers left, Artefus straightened his back as he cleared his throat, "Now then, before we eat, let's do introductions so we'll get to know about each other a bit more." Artefus was about to introduce himself; but before then, Edwin interrupted him with a louder voice.

"Hey guys, as you know I'm Edwin Heilzan, I'm the current Symphony of Extinction, and I'm twenty-four years old. And aside from my main job, I'm also quite a famous musician around the Empire," he boasted to the party, but Artefus just looked at him with a tipped-off expression. But with a sigh, he decided to be patient with Edwin.

"I," his voice echoed through the room, making the whole party flinch, "Am Artefus, Emperor of Zan and the first Great Lich." Artefus then clasped his hands together as a sigh exited his mouth, "I apologize for their absence, but I will introduce them to you all for you will see them a lot more later." He then opened his palm and highlighted his right side, "The Empire of Zan's current Grand General, Quix Veltor," when Artefus uttered this title, Rapl and Sevi's stomachs curled as they recognized its status and reputation.

But Edwin merely sighed at the saying of his name, "He's a real trickster, he might be cool and laid back when you first meet him. But soon the pranks will come, sometimes they're funny, or sometimes they are annoying," the musician murmured, causing Artefus to nod subtly.

The Lich then presented his left side, "Then, the Empire of Zan's current Grand Chancellor, Sheera Lenio," when Artefus uttered her name, he turned to Edwin, as a cheeky smirk came over his face, "Do you wanna say something about her?"

Instantly Edwin's face exploded with a tint of red, which he hid using his hat, "S-She's hardworking, and…."

"And~?" Artefus teased, which took the party by surprise, "Anything else?"

Edwin shook his head behind his hat, making Artefus let out a small chuckle, he then turned to the party, as his face returned to a more composed one.

"We are the four symbols of Zan, Sheera, knowledge, Quix, strength, Edwin, joy, and I," Artefus' voice deepened as he clasped his hands again, and that same terrifying aura filled the room, "Order." But then that aura left as fast as it came as the Lich grinned, "Now then, introduce yourselves."

It took a minute for anyone to respond, Artefus and Edwin were patient enough for them to speak. Then, Bok's mouth opened, "I am Bok, and that's all I know. I have amnesia so I do not remember anything before a month and two weeks ago," he remarked with surprising confidence.

Artefus gave Bok a reassuring stare, "I see, well, welcome to Zan Bok." But as he finished regarding Bok, he turned to Leena, "Now then Princess, could you introduce yourself to your party and me, I believe we all don't know too much about you?"

All eyes now turned to Leena, her face was tensed up in worry; but then she summoned all the confidence she could muster as she stared at her party, "I am Leenamille Vashkarti, first Princess of the Order of Night, and I faked my death to escape my family's grasp," she answered, her tone was full of conviction that surprised Artefus. Meanwhile, her party was in shock; they didn't know all of the things she said, but they got the fact that she was a princess, "I planned to live an honest life instead of taking from others… that's all."

An awkward silence filled the room. The party didn't know what to say, but after collecting his thoughts, Artefus sighed, "I genuinely apologize for making you say that, as you know I do not trust the Order of Night for the things they have done to the Empire," he exclaimed, a bit of venom in his voice as he uttered their name, "So I thought that you had other motives. But I can see you do not." A smile came over Artefus' face as he stared deeply at Leena, "Do not fret anymore, you're under my protection."

Leena was taken aback by the kindness she saw shown, but then Artefus turned his head to the twins, "Now then, you two, introduce yourselves?"

Begrudgingly, Sevi opened his mouth, "I am Sevian, I come from an orphanage in the Kendrian countryside," the boy stated, still a bit tense.

"Same thing here, but replace the name with Alexandria," the ice mage added, her tone and attitude more laid back than Sevi's. The whole party was wondering why she was like this.

Artefus stared at the two deeply, his eyes directed at Alex more than Sevi, "My perception is at the level where I can sense people's emotions against me," the Lich remarked as he turned to Leena, "That's how I managed to figure out you didn't have any ulterior motives." But then he turned to Alex again, his spiral eyes examining her laid-back demeanor, "Such bloodlust for someone so young isn't good for you, you know?"

Artefus' voice cut through the ice mage's shield, "And what?" She replied. Sevi observed her eyes turn slightly more manic and her fingers start to curl, he had seen this before, "What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing," Artefus instantly remarked, cutting right through her offense, even stunning the young lady, "You began to think of a plan ever since I captured you right? I saw it in your eyes, you weren't listening to me when I said that I wouldn't force any of you into doing something you wouldn't want."

Alex began to calm down a bit. "Are you okay?" Sevi asked her, lending a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Don't freak out like that, okay?" Seeing the twins, Artefus' mouth could not help but form a small smile, recognizing their personality.

"Have you two heard of Harley Zerith?" he asked, leading the twins to be a bit perplexed. He saw this as them not knowing at all. But before he could tell them, the door opened to present the group with their food. "Well, I'll tell you later."

The eight began consuming their food, with Rapl finding himself lucky for not being mentioned. Sevi and Alex fed Rico as Bok and Leena still felt uneasy about having Artefus next to them, but after they were finished, Artefus ordered Edwin.

"Edwin, could you please take them to the rooms around the castle? They'll decide which ones will be theirs," the Lich commanded. Edwin happily did what he was told, excitedly asking everyone to follow him; even playing a tune for all of them to feel less tense. But when Rapl was about to leave, "Not you," Artefus commanded, his voice stern as he spoke to the boy.

A chill went down Rapl's spine as he did what he was told, "W-What do you w-want from me?" He asked.

"Sit down next to me, you haven't introduced yourself yet." Rapl slowly made his way next to Artefus, sitting where he ate. But now no one in the room for him to converse with, it was Artefus only, "Now then, introduce yourself?"

Rapl opened his mouth, "I-I'm Rapl T-Tsukumo, I c-come from the vi-village of Gail," he managed to whimper, causing Artefus to sigh.

"Rapl Tsukumo… do you know why I singled you out from your entire group?" Artefus questioned, leading Rapl to shake his head, "You carry a gift, the All-Seeing-Eye, the same gift I have." Rapl knew that Artefus had an All-Seeing-Eye, but he wondered why it was red instead of blue like his. "You see, the All-Seeing-Eye is not only a powerful gift, but a symbol to us Zanians, I have waged war for over five centuries now, and my eye has been our symbol for an unsleeping Empire that has no weakness, and observes all threats," the Lich exclaimed, his voice full of passion that caught Rapl off guard, "So the reason why I isolated you from your group Rapl, is that you will be my successor. To both the Empire, and my title as Lich."