Chapter 17: The Black Castle

There was a black castle, deep in the Northern mountains of O'Leus where no one knew the whereabouts of.  It was the home of the Hooded Man, many had believed he had perished that one rainy day when he fought the Prince, but he had lived.  The Castle was not only home to him, but home to his many guests.  His favorite guest being, the Creator.

"Are you finished with my next request." The Hooded one asked the Creator.  The creator was old, his skin was dark, wrinkled,  and he had chains keeping his body constricted enough so he could still create, but not get away.

"I'm almost finished..."  The man said tiredly.  He grabbed some dust from the ground, and finished his mold of what seemed to be a boy.  The mold was incomplete, once finished, the Creator was the only person who could bring it to life.  The old man was an immortal, one of the few immortals left.  In the beginning, someone gave him the task and the power to create, and bring life to the barren world.  I'm sure he would have never guessed to be captured by someone who he himself created.

"This one my old friend, will indeed have the power to kill the boy...  If not, we'll just make more now won't we?" The Hooded Man said with a sinister smile.  The Blade, The Cyclops, The Cannibal, The Assassin, and of course, The Suffering.  Now, why those have failed... only your divine brother knows the answer to my question.  Nevertheless, we will not fail this time!"

The Creator said nothing, he was always a fairly silent person, unless spoken directly to.  "Do you know where my old friend is, The Suffering?  I have not seen him in quite a while, and I wish to speak with him.  The boy must have had a reason to spare the poor man, and I wish to know what that reason was."

"He is wandering the plains of O'Leus...."  The old man spoke softly.

"Hmmph, I'll find him again one day.  However, in the meantime we have urgent business to attend to.  It seems as if you have finished." The Hooded Man said with enthusiasm.

"Yes... I am finished.  What will you name this one? "

"The Pain!" The sinister man laughed with excitement.  "Hahahaha, I tell you old man these creations just keep getting better!  Send him off, he has work to be done... "

C16: Chyanne

Now I've been to a lot of Kingdoms before, but none quite like the Ivory Kingdom.  It was among the richest in O'Leus.  The castle consisted of gold shrines, silver statues, and of course ivory.  The city had never been more alive, it's financials was at an all time high, the city had never been cleaner, there was no crime, and the princesses' wedding was upon us.

"Hurry now Chyanne, get up!"

"I'm up Mother, leave me so I can use my chamber pot in solidarity.  Princess Chyanne embodied the very definition of beauty for most men, and even a few women.  Her fair skin was light, soft, and supple.  She had long, flowing blonde hair that could reach her knees if her servants didn't tie it up.  Her eyes were hazel, unlike her parents who both had light blue eyes, she was different yet still beautiful.

"Come empty my chamber pots."

Her trio of servants rushed in, grabbed the pot and took it wherever you take chamber pots these days.  I still don't know where they dump the contents of those wretched pots, lets move on shall we, even the thought of it makes me weary.

Her servants returned and helped put on one of the many dresses, some say the princess only knows fancy dresses, nothing more. She wouldn't last a day where I'm from, sorry if I keep getting off topic, I always have trouble telling her story.

The princess was now dressed and walked down through many steps the castle had, seeing as how here room was high up, she always hated the climb down.  She arrived into the outside courtyard, in the gardens, where her and her parents always had breakfast.  This time her parents weren't alone, they were accompanied by someone.  She was thinking if this was the man her father had talked about, the man she had to marry.  The man she had to bear many sons for.  The man she would wait on hand and foot for.  The man she would grow old with.  The man she would inevitably die next too.  See, she was a heavy thinker, this was one feature she did not like about herself.  She would think for hours about the inevitable, life.  In this day and age, everyone was getting married.  Just as long as it's not two men or two women.  I've been told that's an abomination, but I never witnessed such behavior, so I am oblivious.

"Sweetheart, I would love to introduce you to someone, The Handsome Charmer!"  Her mother stated with an elongated smile on her face.  Sit down my dear, and have some fresh venison, you don't want to eat it chilled.  Chyanne's overly enthusiastic parents sat her down and introduced her to the handsome man.  The violinists played a wee bit louder than usual, to help set the mood.  Chyanne knew she been setup to marry this man, even though she had never met.

"Chyanne, your parents tell me you enjoy painting, I would love to watch you create sometime.  "  The Handsome Charmer desperately tried to initiate small talk with the princess, but she was obviously uninterested.  The man quickly noticed the princesses' distaste in him, and nudged the King with angst.

"Excuse me my dear, may I have a word," the King asked with a shallow smile on his face.  Chyanne followed the King deeper into the garden area.

You WILL marry this man, Chyanne!  That I know is true."  The King firmly grabbed his daughters hand to focus her attention on his bearded face.  Now, King George VI  wasn't a cruel man, he just wanted things his way.  And if that meant he had to get physical, then so be it.

"Father, I...."  The princess had nothing more to say, as she chose to nod her head in agreement, even though she didn't mean it.  The princesses' wrists turned red after her father let her go, and they casually walked back to the breakfast table, where they continued the introduction of the Handsome Charmer.

Now you may be asking why these people don't use his real name, and that's because his face and wit outweigh his innards.  Personally, I still don't know his real name, and I don't want to know.

C15- "Looking for our new home"

"Felix where are going?"  Justus asked while following alongside his eldest brother.  Titus, Marcus, Marius, Andreas, and the innocent Amadeus all followed behind the two.  Since they were the oldest out of the seven, they were the unspoken leaders, something they knew and respected inside.

"We're looking for our new home, Justus.  We've had our fun, but now it's time to really use our new found powers to take what we lost, our home?"

"Does this mean we're going back to Karrakia?" Justus asked again.  Usually, the inquisitive brother was always Amadeus, but he hadn't said much after the brothers ransacked the small town.

"No, no, we're looking at something we can call our own.  I want a Kingdom!  Not just an old farmer's town.  I want a city, with guards and servants!  I want the power that comes along with new strength.

"Do we really want to enslave a whole city?  After living as slaves ourselves, I didn't think you would want to enslave others.  The two brothers went back and forth with one another, as they would usually do.  Felix always felt a bit of resentment towards not only Justus, but Titus as well.  The main reason being their skin had always been a few shades lighter than him and the other brothers. If you didn't know who they were beforehand, you would never guess that they come from Karrakia.

Maybe that's why Justus and Titus were so close with one another, who knows?

The seven brothers walked for many days and nights, not tiring in the slightest.  There new gifts they received from the mysterious hooded figure in the pit at Slaver City had gifted them not only with supreme speed, but endurance and strength as well.

It was a night yet again, and Felix had halted the group, and said they would be stopping for the night.  "Our new home is just over that ridge, the Ivory Kingdom. "