King Scio Riada VI was hated throughout the region. None spoke out against him, however, in fear of being responsible for the deaths of him or herself, his or her family, and his or her friends. Not even the mighty guild of Pratzi's greatest mages.

Scio VI had a son with his coerced queen, Linata Cresio. The son was named Scio Riada VII. When he emerged from Linata, all were surprised to see traces of red hair, the mysterious gene which powers Pratzi magic.

Scio VI knew what would happen if Scio VII were allowed to harvest his magical powers. He arranged for his son to be killed in an 'accident', but Linata would not allow it. Linata begged Scio VI to switch Scio VII with an engineer's child. Scio VI agreed under one condition: Linata would never speak against Scio VI again.

Scio VII was switched with a child who was born with very little hair, and all who knew the real Scio VII had red hair were silenced. Scio VII's new and unsuspecting father and mother were Lanse and Paoru Settia. Scio's new name was Proul.

Eightteen years later...

"Hand over your money, freak." Proul backed up against the alleyway, and bumped into a wall. He gulped. "I don't want any trouble. All I want to do is get to a friend's house." Proul was staring at a gang of Pratzi males, the Tialls. The leader came closer, and laughed. "Haha. You actually think you have a friend, you red-haired freak!? It doesn't matter! Either way, your supposed friend isn't here, so either you give us your money, or we'll force it out of you!"

Proul closed his eyes, and spoke up. "I didn't wanna have to resort to this." The leader's eyes widened, then shrunk again. "What are you gonna do freak!? Use your magic? Oh, I'm so scared. Most of you don't even know HOW to use your magic! Hahaha!" The leader laughed, mocking Proul. Proul smirked, and nodded. With a burst of light, his eyes opened to reveal a shining golden hue spreading throughout his body.

Proul brought up his shining hand. "I told you I didn't want any trouble. You should've listened. Now you burn." The leader's eyes widened once more. Proul concentrated, and sent the flaming aura on his outspread hand onto the Tialls' leader. The young man cried out in pain. All the others backed away, fear evident on their faces.

Proul pointed his hand at them. "Now's your cue to leave." A small spark spread from Proul's hand, and they all ran, screaming for their lives. Proul brought his hand down, continuing on to his friend's house.

He approached his friend's house, and knocked on the door. The door opened, and standing there was a female Pratzian. "There you are Proul! What took you so long?" Proul smirked. "I was sidetracked, Linna." Linna stepped aside. "So come on in and tell me about it!"

Proul entered Linna's house, and told her of what happened in the alleyway. Linna listened intently, and cooked them some dinner. Following the dinner and a warm hug from Linna, Proul left for home.

Proul returned home only to find his house ransacked. Proul immediately became alert, and searched for his parents. He found them on the kitchen floor, blood leaking all over. "Mom! Dad! What happened!?" Lanse opened his eyes. "P-proul? We were attacked...by royal men...There's something...you have...to...know...it's all in...the note...insi-ugh...inside...the table...no matter what it says...ugh...Proul, you're still my-ugh...son...and I...love you...good.........bye........." With those final words, Lanse Settia died, and his spirit faded into the great beyond.

Proul nodded his head in silence, tears watering down his face. Looking up, Proul noticed Paoru's body shiver. "Mom!? Hang on Mom!" Proul gathered a magical silver aura to him, and sent a wave of it onto Paoru, hoping to heal her. Paoru's body budged some more, taking in the healing energy like air, until it stopped squirming and laid to rest. Proul's aura became a fiery red. "NOOOOOOOOO!" Proul kneeled down and slammed his fist against the floor. Proul's magic sent a shockwave throughout the area, causing a massive earthquake, which continued for hours.

Hours later...

The shockwaves stopped, and the earthquakes settled. Proul got up and walked to the table where Lanse's note was. Proul opened the broken drawer, and withdrew a small white note. He opened it and read:

Dear Proul,
Soon, your mother and I shall be dead, thus why I am writing this now. This morning, I overheard Queen Linata begging King Scio to allow her to visit her son. I was shocked at this, as I believed the heir to the throne lived in the palace. It turns out that the real heir had red hair, and was switched with a newborn by the name of Proul Settia, which is your name. That can only mean one thing. You are the true heir. The King didn't know I was fixing something in the same room, and when he saw me leave, he realized I had overheard, and immediately sicked guards on me. I escaped, but the King has records on everybody in the country, so it is a matter of time till they arrive here. No matter what happens Proul...

There was a smudge of ink here. Proul continued on, and found more writing.

proul! the royal guards are here! as soon as you read this RUN. they WILL be looking for you! I love you so does your mother! good-bye proul!

Proul searched for more writing, but could find none. Proul closed his eyes, and thought long and hard. He decided to get revenge, and go end the life of King Scio VI. A moment later, it hit him. He was Prince Scio VII, not Proul Settia. If he killed King Scio VI, he would become the king of Zeran.

Proul opened his eyes, and walked out of the house. He looked up, and it began to rain heavily, a heavy sorrowful rain. Proul opened his mouth to speak. "I will become the next king of Zeran...I will usurp my devil of a father...I will...for my parents, for myself, and for revenge!" Proul screamed his lungs out into the air.

Proul left his house and headed for Linna's house. Upon reaching her house, he blasted down the door with a burst spell. "Linna!" Linna ran out of her kitchen. "Proul, why'd you blast down my door!?" Proul glared at her. "I'll make this short. Parents; dead. Me; heir to the throne; switched at birth; wants revenge. I'll usurp the throne. I want your help. So will you help me or not?"

Linna blinked, and sat down. "Oh my god... It's so sudden..." Linna shook her head. "I..I...of course I'll help you!" Linna jumped up. "We're best friends! I'll help you do anything! But we're going to need allies, supplies, plans, etc.! Of course, my parents could be a potential problem..." Proul smiled. "Just tell them the truth." Linna nodded. "Right, let's go!" Proul turned to the door, but Linna stopped him. "But I think it's best if you didn't tell anybody you're actually Scio VII..." Proul nodded again.

With that, Proul and Linna set off to find allies. They stopped by a local tavern with many tables, and found a small number of people there, including two humans and their baby, an aven, and just short of a dozen Pratzi. Proul walked up to the humans. Proul introduced himself as the leader of a resistance. "I am Proul Settia, the leader of the...um..." Proul turned to Linna. "He's Proul Settia, the leader of the United Rebellion. I am Linna Torro, his second in command. You two look like you could be viable members of a resistance."

The female Human stood up. "You mean revolting? Hehehe... You're my kind of people! I'm Natyla Lynnin, formerly of Ryzin. It'd be nice to stage a revolt, after what Evelyn did to us, hehehe." The other human stood up. "I'm Vincynt, Natyla's wista. And this is Dezyth, our one-year old. Of course we'll help you! I've noticed that your king is one self-obsessed freak." Natyla punched him. "I'll do the talking. It's obvious you have no idea to set up a rebellion. You don't just walk up to people. You wanna find people who hate the king. Watch."

Natyla walked over to an Angian patron at another table. "Hey. You. What do you think about the king?" The Angian looked at him. "Why would you like to know?" Natyla smiled. "I just wanna know the public opinion, that's all." The Angian smiled, and the other patrons turned to watch. The Angian spoke up. "I believe he's an arrogant, corrupt man. But is my opinion valid? I am just a wanderer."

Natyla sat down. "Listen, you can make a difference. I'm part of a resistance force, the um, United Rebellion. How would you like to join us?" The Angian closed his eyes. "Maybe. This country needs freedom, so I accept." The surrounding patrons jumped up as well. "We wanna join too! Scio can't rule us like this! We'll fight!"

Natyla grinned. "Perfect! Our leader's in the corner! Proul Settia, standing next to Linna Torro!" The Pratzi turned and gasped. "He...has...red hair..." Proul bowed his head and turned to leave. "Come on, let's go. They can't see past appearances." One of the Pratzi ran up to Proul. "Wait! Sorry. I was just surprised! Of course I'll join the resistance, just like the rest of us!" He turned and motioned to the others. "Right!" "Yeah!" "He's going down!" "Let's do this!"

Proul and Linna left that day with sixteen new allies. Together, they were going to recruit more allies, gather supplies, harass the military, and take the throne!