Empire’s Beginning (Full Story): Written by Exodus, Original Story by Exodus After the defeat at Kylandia Castle, the surrounding area also fell to Iyaxxl’s conquest, the Evalon Empire. Kylandia City was now the landmark of a bloody massacre, and few escaped with their lives, the city became an outpost, and home for Iyaxxl’s troopers, the higher-ups got to stay in the castle, now being modified into the Evalon Fortress. Iyaxxl’s troopers were heartless and killed many, including Brutor and Angus McDeio’s parents, Danny and Moira. Angus was spared as he wasn’t a part of the royal guard, though he was meant to be, instead, he was invited into the Evalon Elite Forces, though he had many unanswered questions about why the tragedy happened, and Iyaxxl’s connection to it. In the old throne room, now the great hall, a throne on a circular disc rotated round to face Krytus, Brutor, Morn and Snide. Sitting on it was a tall figure wearing dark green robes and a hood, it was unclear of what was behind it, as the face was obscured by darkness, except for two seemingly glowing white eyes. Barely sticking out of the long sleeves and robe were robotic fingers and feet, coloured a pinkish-purple. Morn took a step forward and stared at his ‘creation’. “How do you like the new body Sir?” he asked Iyaxxl. Iyaxxl spoke, though his voice sounded like he always had, it echoed a little, “It is satisfactory. Now that the castle is mine, the kingdom will soon follow.” he replied confidently. “So wha’ ‘appens now Sir?” asked Krytus. “Firstly, Morn, your lab has been modified and enlarged, I want you to begin work on the magic infusion tests, we must have Edwina’s magic.” “I have already made preparations Sir, but what about my Mecha Morpher?...” asked Morn anxiously. “No. Obtaining Edwina’s magic takes priority, now go.” “Yes Sir.” grumbled Morn as he left, the initial tests on Princess Edwina had failed to extract her powers to give to another, Edwina refused to help, and he was missing something, without it, he would never get a successful sample from her. He instead turned to another idea of his, a machine to completely change a person into a warrior of metal and robotics, but now Iyaxxl had condemned that idea, Morn was starting to think that reviving Iyaxxl had been a bad move. “What about us Sir?” grinned Snide. “For now we need human resources before we can expand. Two other kingdom leaders were killed in our attack and their kingdoms are in turmoil while one nearby kingdom is fairly friendly with this one, we shall start at those locations. You three, Angus, and the other groups I previously briefed shall go through the villages and towns of Fiora, Grandulen and Haprin, and collect people to work or fight for our empire, but we shall not take over nor destroy their villages as yet, we want the world to believe we are worth helping so that others will join by choice.” “With respect Sir, didn’t killing everyone in Kylandia City kind of give away your evil intentions?” questioned Snide. Iyaxxl leaned both robotic hands against the arms of the throne and peered towards Snide, who held his expression and didn’t fear Iyaxxl at all. “Provided you killed all that would tell of us, we have plenty of time to give the world an alibi, but don’t worry, once we gather enough people around the world, they will easily be corrupted, and by the time the whole world knows of our plans and power, it will be too late to stop us.” “So Oi won’t be allowed to kill anyone?” grumbled Sly Krytus. “Only if its absolutely necessary, but don’t kill any potential fighters that could be persuaded to join us.” replied Iyaxxl. “But Sir.” added Brutor, “Mah brother, his trainin’ was during the king’s time, he fights wit’ pitiful honour, he will surely become aware of yir plans sooner or later, and turn oan ye.” “I don’t believe he will, he was trained to serve whoever sits on the throne, and as for his honour, I’m sure you can overcome that with a few simple lies. Have Angus go to Vilem, but make sure his troopers are capable of killing if the situation arises.” “Aye Sir.” replied Brutor. “Krytus, I want you to go to the warrior village of Viess, retrieve Charles and Cecilia Corelle, they were not too close to Edward but they were fine warriors, see if you can persuade them to join us, but if they resist, then you have no choice but to kill them, once this situation is dealt with, take any able warriors, Morn will convince them to fight if they try and retaliate.” “Of course.” smiled Krytus. “Brutor, I want you to collect as many people as you can from the town of Ryll on the southern continent.” “Aye Sir.” “And Snide, go to the villages of Rolem and Grautz, but don’t start a battle, I shall obliterate those villages in due time and I don’t want anyone to suspect it.” “Of course Sir.” smiled Snide, admiring Iyaxxl’s deceit. “I’ve already arranged for my many troopers to round up others from every remaining landmark within the three kingdoms, now go out and bring back some worthy warriors and staff...” Angus later reached the village of Vilem, located in the kingdom of Fiora (northwest of Scion), the small settlement was known for a vague mystic power that some of the people had. Titus, one of the former Freedom Force members resided here, but Iyaxxl never believed nor saw his so-called power, and didn’t consider him a threat. Angus had ginger hair, but it was rarely seen under his black helmet, the colour also resided in his silver armour, the hilt of his sword, and on his shield, but the colour was a little deceptive, Angus was not evil, he had a lot of honour. Unfortunately, by the time he was considered experienced enough to join the royal guard, Iyaxxl had destroyed it, Angus was not in Kylandia when the attack happened, and didn’t witness the tragic death of his parents, the legendary warriors that once fought against the demons. Angus was shocked at the ruins of his city, and of the many corpses, Iyaxxl took him in and claimed that it was the work of monsters from the not so old demon age, and that he was asked by the dying king to rule in his place. It seemed to make sense, but it just didn’t feel right, surely his parents could deal with demons, even at their age. Behind him, the troopers conspired, “Remember what Iyaxxl said, kill any who oppose us, with or without Angus’ consent.” They entered the village and Angus spoke out loud, yet softly, in an accent similar to a Scotsman on Planet Earth. “Attention, people o’ Vilem, the honourable Emperor Iyaxxl has taken lead o’ Scion after the tragedy that wiped out the residents an’ royalty of its capital Kylandia, an’ requires people tae work at the Empire. Please send someone along wit’ us willingly.” Titus heard Iyaxxl’s name being mentioned and stormed out of his house to join his people. “Iyaxxl?! What has happened to Edward?!” “Ah’m afraid the former king is nae more, as his closest friend, Iyaxxl has taken the role as ruler o’ Scion.” replied Angus, though a little unconvincingly, he had been told these things but he hadn’t witnessed one of these events. “But what of his daughter?” thought Titus, so as not to give away a secret that Edward had trusted him with. Surely his daughter would take over, unless Iyaxxl had betrayed the royal family. “I don’t believe you.” shouted Titus, “How can we be sure that the king’s death wasn’t the act of Iyaxxl?! We will not give anyone for your cause!” “Attack him.” whispered a trooper. “Hey! Ah didnae give the order te-” argued Angus, before getting interrupted by a young woman. “Wait!” She wore a green top with thin strings that tied around her shoulders, and a short white skirt, large brown boots tightened by yellow string, and her long auburn hair was tied back by a large green bow, she wore a yellow tiara with a red gem embedded in the centre around her head, and a similar one around her waist. This was Kirie Jay, Titus’ daughter and a half-Gaian, though she had no powers. She had a backpack and so it was obvious what she was preparing to do. “Kirie! What do you think you’re doing?!” questioned Titus. “Saving this ungrateful village. I’m the only one you’ll need, I’ve got enough experience to work as a scientist, just don’t hurt the villagers.” she explained firmly. “Kirie, please...” pleaded Titus, reaching out his hand to retrieve her. “Deal.” replied the trooper, and pulled Kirie away from Titus. The troopers turned around and left, having obtained what they needed. “Please don’t oppose us, or warriors tougher than mahself may be provoked intae hurtin’ ye.” warned Angus. “As far as I’m concerned, that old man already opposed us.” thought the trooper, “His village will not be spared...” Snide had just made a deal with the villagers of Rolem, a tiny village on the south of Haprin, the kingdom north of Scion. “Thank you for donating your scientists, but I’ve heard of a warrior that resides here. Her name is Cammy Amirez and she’s a famous huntress.” said Snide to the helpful villagers. “I’m afraid she is away on business, but we shall inform her that you called here, just don’t harm us...” said the village elder. “Snide, are you really going to leave it like that?” asked a trooper on the way back. “Fool. Cammy is a renowned mercenary, she might not join us if we destroyed her village. Besides, I’d like to meet her...” explained Snide. Krytus had just arrived in Viess, located in East Fiora, with a group of troops. “Villagers of Viess, we know this town is full o’ foightin’ legends, ‘and over yer warriors if you treasure yer lives!” Charles and Cecilia Corelle soon arrived, ready for battle and joined by three others. “This is an outrage! I know care who you are, but we’ve tried to put our fighting days behind us, but perhaps we will have to squeeze in one final battle!” bellowed Charles. “Leave us now or be destroyed.” ordered Cecilia. “Oi tried.” sighed Krytus with some sarcasm, “Kill ‘em!!!...” Upstairs in a nearby house, the twin daughters of Charles and Cecilia were watching their parents. The window was small and only one of the girls could see at a time, the slightly eldest twin was currently watching. Helena was a spiky blonde and her long hair was parted and fell down to her waist, she wore a golden hairband and a revealing yellow top, her shoulders could be seen, and the dress was supported by straps that tied around her arms. She also wore a torn pink dress, a pink hair band and brown boots. Behind her and worrying a lot was Lucia, slightly younger than Helena by a matter of minutes, she was a darker blonde, and her hair was long, straight and beautiful, Lucia had a slight fringe over her forehead that covered her pink hairband, and two long pig-tails at the sides. She wore a blue sleeveless top, and puffy pink trousers with white shoes. Though their faces looked similar, the twins were very different. Lucia was responsible and intelligent, but Helena was a troublemaker, she couldn’t keep up with Lucia’s smarts and unfortunately didn’t get the parental attention she desired, she detested her sister for having things go so well for her, and became her rival in every physical activity and in weapon training, in which both siblings chose to practice with fighting claws like their legendary parents, but now they shared a great deal of worry for them. “What’s going on, how’s that protest going?” Lucia asked. “Not too well Lucia... and... No...” “What?” “No...” “Helena, what are you doing?!” screamed Lucia, as Helena equipped her fighting claws on her right hand and dived through the glass window. “Best challenge Oi’ve ‘ad in years.” complimented Krytus, scraping his claws against each other. “Noooo!!!” screamed Helena, and surprised Krytus, who was looming over the bodies of the best warriors in Viess. Krytus fell back without any wounds, and collapsed on the floor. Helena shook her father’s corpse and held her mother’s head in her hands before succumbing to the realisation that they were gone. She screamed, but surprisingly directed it at her parents. “Why?! How dare you leave me now! How dare you give all your attention to Lucia and ignore me! You can’t leave me like this!” A minor fact about Helena was that she was, mentally, a little sick, but she managed to get by without this being noticed, she constantly had outbursts, but in secrecy, and now she couldn’t hide it and let out her rage. “She’s crazy, but beau’iful.” mused Krytus, “Too bad Oi’ve gotta kill ‘er.” “YOU!” screamed Helena towards Krytus, who smiled as he approached her. “So, yer parents never gave you any toime, an’ now they never will.” he said with delight. “Don’t you speak of them!” screamed Helena, jumping into attack. Her claws collided with Krytus’, but he held them in place and observed her. “My my, so much anger, jus’ wai’in’ ta get out. Come on, le’s see wha’s inside!” Krytus was partly playing with her in the way a beast played with its prey, but also, Krytus felt something for her, she was a little like him, and with some alterations, she’d be perfect. “Eeeiiiaaaaa!!!” she screamed, pulling her hand away from Krytus and quickly punching him in the face. She then tackled him and trapped him against a wall where she punched him in the face, again and again. Blood started to fly and Krytus could probably have stopped this at any time, but he appeared to be smiling maniacally at the pain. Where the others originally received a small dose of evil energy ten years ago, Krytus had become the most deadly and bloodthirsty, some would think he had a higher dose, but Krytus would tell you that the evil energy wouldn’t have changed him, he was always evil. Krytus was disturbed mentally since the death of his true parents, the evil energy only sped up his crazed ways. “Hah!” he screamed, and finally struck back, having felt Helena’s rage. His claws rose and caught Helena off guard, she fell back holding her head which was leaking blood. “You’re almos’ there, you can dish it out well, but can you take it back?!” Krytus started punching her, particularly in her already damaged head. Helena started getting dizzy from the amount of hitting Krytus was giving out, so much that her very mind was becoming more damaged than it already was. Krytus dealt one final blow and she landed in a heap in a grass patch. She picked herself up after some time, and Krytus smiled as if she had passed some sort of test. “So you survived, you’ve got a way ta go, but you’re worthy of joinin’ Oiyaxxl’s ranks.” She stared deeply at him and smiled. “I... I accept.” Her expression was different now, more deranged. The damage to her head coupled with her jealousy and rage for her sister, it changed Helena permanently, she became a monster on the inside, full of hatred. Krytus smiled, “Perfect.” he thought, “She’ll make an excellent lover fer me...” “But my sister comes along too.” ordered Helena. “Fine.” said Krytus quickly, “Grab the girl!” he ordered. The troops soon broke into the Corelle household and dragged out Lucia. “Helena... What are you doing with him?!” screamed Lucia. “Shut up!” she interrupted, “This is my show now, you’ll upstage me no longer!” “Le’s go.” ordered Krytus. But before they left, Helena separated from the crowd and returned to her house, and grasped her hand around one of the candles. “My past is of no interest to me now, I’m starting again, I’ll show Lucia how much better I am than her.” With that, she held the candle close to the curtains, and a small fire started to consume the Corelle household. Helena left, and didn’t look back. In Ryll, a small town in the east kingdom of Grandulen, a lone survivor from Kylandia had warned the people here of the upcoming danger, and they had prepared for battle. Unfortunately, they were no match, and within a few hours, the town was littered with bodies. Brutor had the troopers take a few people back to the empire, they would work for them for fear of being killed if they didn’t. “We’ve got plenty o’ workers but nae worthy warriors... We shall see aboot that...” mused Brutor. Two individuals had eluded the troopers so far: Alice Dregg and Earl Winters. Alice was a blonde girl and her hair was spiky yet curly, she was a beautiful young woman and wore a green dress. Alongside her was Earl, a short dark blue haired boy wearing a pale brown coat and trousers, with a yellow scarf wrapped around his neck and a thin red/ purple headband, he also wore black sandals. Alice and Earl were both orphans and grew up together, they were the best of friends despite their differences, while Earl was quiet and withdrawn, Alice was energetic and daring. “Earl! We can’t find the port! That emergency boat is gonna leave without us, how will we find sanctuary now?!” panicked Alice. “Alice, calm down! We have to think things over for just a moment!” argued Earl. “Now we’ve gotcha!” mocked a trooper, as he and four others blocked off one of the paths, there were still two paths unaccounted for. “... Split up! You go right.” suggested Earl, and the two took off in different directions. Earl ran down one of the streets and leapt behind a corner, as the troops caught up, he was nowhere to be seen, but just above them, Earl balanced himself on a street light, it was a good thing it was daytime or the shadow would have been a dead giveaway. The troopers ran down the next available path, and Earl jumped down and doubled back towards Alice. Alice, while running, noticed part of the boat they had been asked to go to, they had lost the map in a previous chase, and had never seen the port before. Alice’s eyes lit up and she smiled, just across the bridge was the way out, hopefully Earl was nearby. She didn’t appear to notice a small proximity mine planted just ahead of her. “Earl! I’ve found it! Come quickly!” Earl followed the sound of her voice and took a quicker route towards it. There was Alice, still being chased by three of the troopers, Earl smiled and ran forward, but seconds after the troops had chased Alice onto the bridge, an explosion ripped through it... When the smoke cleared, the bridge was totally destroyed, there was nothing of the group but charred bones. “ALICE!!!” screamed Earl, reaching out in shock, he collapsed to the floor and just stared ahead, the ship was already leaving, but it didn’t matter, Earl didn’t have the motivation to even try and catch up, Alice was his rock of strength, his inspiration, and the only significant person in his life. “I told her to go right...” he whispered, “I did this... I killed her...” he said in a state of shock. Two ensigns picked up Earl by the arms, they both had black hair and light blue uniforms and helmets. They were twins, Joe and Moe Brandon. “You’re coming with us.” ordered Moe. “Your friend is finished, gone, dead!” gloated Joe, making a big mistake. “Shut up!” yelled Earl, pulling himself away and punching Joe hard in the nose. “Ow!!!... Droopers... Det ‘im!” shouted Joe, holding his bloody nose. “What?” “Troopers! Get him!” interpreted Moe. Five troopers surrounded Earl, including the two that had chased him, they all leapt at Earl, who realised in hitting Joe, he had made the ensign drop his knife. Earl spun around, and all five troopers fell down clutching their necks. “He... killed them all... Just like that...” muttered Moe in shock. “’e mudd be arrs! Droopers!” shouted Joe. They approached Earl, but he turned to them and gave off a savage and crazed look while grasping the knife, they didn’t dare take him on. Earl used the chance to escape. “I’ll never be made to fight for them, they destroyed the person I treasured over everything, I’ll be back, and I’ll make them pay!...” Joe and Moe returned to their commanding officer. “Ow... Di dink ‘e broke it...” groaned Joe. “Sir Brutor.” addressed Moe, “Half of the citizens escaped, and we lost the kid.” “Leave them.” laughed Brutor, “Iyaxxl need not know o’ this wee setback. This town paid the price fer defying us, they were poor warriors. We shall find others a wee bit more willing before the escapees can even think aboot fightin’ back...” Later on, Snide arrived in Grautz, a short walk from the small settlement of Rolem and so his task was doubled. “Hah, a backwater village. Still, we want at least one warrior from you!” he ordered. “Never!” retorted Bernard Adulen, the leader of the village, he was a middle aged man with black hair, moustache and beard, and he wore a black coat, brown hat and wielded a wooden staff. “It was agreed by our kingdom leader and by King Edward that Grautz never be involved in wars!” “They’re both dead, and there’s a new ruler of Scion now. If you don’t do what I say, I’ll kill you.” threatened Snide. “Stop!...” shouted a young man. “Turok...” muttered Bernard. Turok was one of the twins abandoned at a young age on his doorstep, along with his twin sister who was named Tanya. They both had light blue hair, Turok’s was shoulder-length and parted to the sides, while his sister’s was short, but arranged in a new style quite frequently. He wore a yellow shirt and a green sleeveless coat, blue jeans, brown boots, four gold bangles (one on each arm, one around each wrist), with a small golden headband that held his hair back. “... If it’ll protect this village and keep everyone from harm, then I’ll go with you.” he offered the group. “No Turok!” shouted his sister, “Please...” “Tanya...” groaned Turok, “This would have been easier if you hadn’t come here...” “You can’t go! I need you...” she pleaded. “You have Zachary to take care of you. Promise me you’ll look after her ‘Zapz’.” Zack Taylor was Turok’s closest friend, next to his sister, he earned his nickname because he was an experienced mechanic, he had been dating Tanya for several months. He had messy curly purple hair and a dark violet suit with black trousers. “You know I will Turok.” he replied, respecting Turok’s choice. Tanya wept on Zapz’s shoulder as Turok departed from the village. Back in the empire’s grand hall, Iyaxxl smiled, he had a handful of good workers and many fighters, enough to compensate for any resistance from outside forces. He had yet to create an alibi for the destruction, but he had time, he first wanted to flex the newfound muscles of his empire, having waited ten years for it to come together. The kingdom of Grandulen was full of old heroes from the Freedom Force age, they were too loyal to Edward and would surely never agree to join the empire, but it mattered not. Iyaxxl was interested in testing some of his newest warriors’ skills, and in seizing the whole kingdom while it was weakened by the loss of its leader, Scion was virtually his anyway so Grandulen would be the perfect starting point for his empire to truly begin. 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