On the southeastern reaches of a place known as War Field, there lay a small kingdom known as Gravolta. Placed directly in the center of this kingdom's capital city there lay a castle. One fit for royalty, however, nothing too extravagant. If anything, those that have seen the inside of this castle would probably call it homely and humble.
Within this castle, there lay a boy around the age of eight to ten years old.
*Ding Dong Ding Dong*
Early in the morning, the child's clock had gone off, signaling the start of yet another day. Sitting up from the bed and rubbing his dry eyes, the young boy pushed the sheets off of his body and got up from his small yet comfy bed.
"5:30, right on time."
After checking that the old clock didn't break again, he had decided to finally exit from the warm embrace of his bed and walk towards the closet in the left corner of his room. After taking out his work attire, the boy turned around and looked at the door standing opposite his direction. Pushing the door open, he saw a less than extravagant bathroom kitted with the bare minimum one would need to get ready in his line of work.
Grabbing a towel and heading towards the shower, he pulled open the slightly worn curtain and turned the shower to the left.
While waiting for the shower to get a little warmer, the boy took a look in the mirror and inspected himself. Looking back at him was the reflection of his tousled dark brown hair and his olive-green eyes. Looking down, he saw the figure of a fit young man. Well, as fit as one would expect from a soon to be nine-year-old working in manual labor could be.
"Todays the day!"
The boy couldn't help but think about and exclaim to himself what would happen later in the day. After all, today was his 9th birthday as well as the day that he could finally pick up a weapon of his choosing in accordance to one of Gravolta's laws.
"A child cannot bear a weapon until the age of nine." The boy repeated the law that had been limiting him from accomplishing one of his biggest desires his whole life.
After looking in the mirror and getting himself excited for the later part of the day, he had decided that the shower was warm enough for him to step inside and bathe.
Opening up the door to the bathroom after his short yet refreshing shower, he had stepped out in his work attire, a black suit with a black tie and dress pants. Underneath the black blazer of his suit was a crisp snow-white dress shirt.
Looking down at himself and deciding that he was ready to get to work, the boy took one last glance at the clock reading 5:45 and heading out of his living quarters. Looking to the left, he saw a vast corridor with his fellow butlers and maids in training exiting their rooms as well.
Going up a floor to the professional servants living quarters, he headed towards the right and went all the way to the end of the long hallway. Knocking 3 times on the door, he heard the voice of a middle-aged man.
"Come in."
Entering, the boy saw a room that was much more accommodating than the one he had been living in since he took on his job. The left side of the room was filled with bookshelves while the right side had pictures of family hanging on the walls and standing on top of tables with an expensive looking clock sitting in the middle. At the head of the room was a nice desk with papers of different kinds on it, and behind the desk sat the head butler. A middle-aged man with greying hair and striking red eyes. This man's name was-
"Mr. Reed, good morning."
"Yes, good morning to you too young Vigil. I assume you are here for your daily duties again?"
"Yes sir."
The young boy, whose name was Vigil, came to see the head butler in order to get his duties for the day. Even though his duties haven't changed since the day he started his job as a butler in training.
"For today, you are to see to the Princess and accompany her until she goes to bed. Once again, you will have your lunch break midday and switch out with your mother until your lunch break has ended."
Mr. Reed had once again given him the task of taking care of the Princess.
"I understand."
Performing a professional bow, Vigil turned around and proceeded to head towards the doors leading out of the head butlers' quarters.
"-HELP!!"
Hearing a loud yell behind him, Vigil turned around to see the head butler looking over his papers.
"Excuse me Mr. Reed, but did you say something?"
Looking up from his papers, the man raised an eyebrow and gave Vigil a questionable look.
"No? Why do you ask?"
"..."
Some time passed before the young boy was able to give a reply.
"Sorry sir, I think I just heard something. I must've been wrong. I apologize."
"It's alright. Now go quickly or you may be unable to meet with your mother before your duties start."
Glancing at the clock posted up on the wall to his left, Vigil saw the clock read 6:00 on the dot. Realizing that he only had 30 minutes until he had to perform his duties, he turned to the door once more and began to leave. Vigil however, realizing that he started another conversation without saying goodbye again, turned around once more and said his goodbyes then proceeded to leave the head butlers quarters once more.
Looking down the hallway, Vigil saw his next destination, the head maids quaters. Walking down the hallway he was greeted by many of his peers as well as his superoirs.
Once he had reached his destination, he knocked on the door and was given permission to enter from the person on the other side.
Entering the room, Vigil saw what could only be called a slight replica of the room he had entered before. The only difference this time though was that some of the pictures hung up on the walls as sitting atop tables, were pictures of Vigil himself.
Vigil had been in and seen this room so many times that everything here seemed like a small home away from home. However, unlike other days when he would enter this room, something caught his eye. Hanging on the wall on his right side, Vigil saw a grand portrait of the head maid and her husband. Within this picture was a tall man with ash white hair and pitch black eyes. The man could be said to be one of if not the most handsome man Vigil had ever laid his eyes on. Standing to the man's left was the head maid herself. She was beutiful with her long flowing locks of dark brown hair and soft olive colored eyes.
However, what caught Vigil's attention wasn't the portrait. No, it was the sword hanging to the portraits left that had truly caought his eye.
While he was enamoured by the hanging sword a voice had come from back of the room, just behind the desk knocking Vigil out of his stupor.
"Seems like someones excited for today."
Looking towards the back of the room, Vigil saw the head maid and said-
"Of course I'm excited, todays the day I finally turn nine years old."
With a sly grin plastered on her face the head maid replied.
"Oh? Are you so excited that you can't even say good morning to your own mother, you little rascal?"
"Ah- Good morning mother."
"Yes, yes. Good morning to you too Vigil."
The head maid, Vigils mother Maria, stood up from behind her desk and walked towards Vigil. When she finally reached him, she spread out her arms and gave him a big bear hug.
"Happy brithday!"
She exclaimed right before landing a kiss on Vigils cheek.
"Thanks mom!"
Releasing Vigil from her hug, she took a step back and proceeded to look at the sword and portrait. With a distant look and a voice tinged in melancholy, she said-
"If your father were here, he'd be so happy to congratulate you on your ninth birthday."
Hearing this, Vigil couldn't help but say something to try and cheer his mother up.
"I know, but still, I'm just glad that you're here to celebrate it with me! I couldn't ask for anything more!"
Looking down at her son, Maria could'nt help but flash him a warm smile before giving him a shooing hand gesture.
"I would love nothing more than to stay by your side and celebrate your birthday with you. However, we both have work to do. So, when we both get back, let's throw a party to commemorate the big day!"
Walking up to his mother, Vigil gave her a hug before leaving the room and attending to his duties.
"Love you mom, I'll see you later!"
"I love you too Vig."
Leaving the room, Vigil went downsatirs and exited the staff living quaters building and began to head towards the castles back door.
Entering through the back door and traveling 3 floors up, Vigil stopped before a large wooden door. Beside the door, a tall middle aged man with a short greying beard and a head without hair was standing guard, clad in steel plate armour with a halberd in his left hand.
"Good morning Sir Etwin."
"Good morning to you as well young Vigil. Please make sure the princess is presentable when she leaves the room."
"Of course, it is my job after all."
After knocking on the door a few times without being given an answer, Vigil announced his entering the room and opened the door.
Standing in the doorway, Vigil saw a room that was at least, 5 times the size of his. To his right was a large king-sized bed facing the opposite direction. Facing the door were 2 windows that reached the ceiling, covered by curtains that were in the same fashion as the carpet.
Finally, Vigil looked towards the bed and noticed the sheets in the center were moving up and down in a rhythmic pattern.
Walking towards the bed, Vigil saw what was causing the movement in the sheets. It was a young girl, no older than he was, with silvery white hair and a small, cute face.
Noticing that the girl was still asleep, Vigil walked towards the curtain covered windows and opened them in a single, swift motion, brightening the room.
"Hmm..."
Haering the noises of the little girl behind him, Vigil, while tying up the last curtain, greeted the young girl.
"Good morning, Princess Arvayne."
"Mmm... Vig, it's too early to be opening the- MAMA, PAPA!!!"
Hearing the distressed yell behind him, Vigil turned around as quickly as his body would let him.
"My lady, what happened!?"
Looking at Princess Arvayne, the only thing that Vigil saw was her looking right back at him with her crystal blue eyes and head tilted to the side with a look on her faced that asked, "What is it?"
After hearing the loud exclamation from Vigil, Etwin opened the door in a panic.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
Seeing Sir Etwin barge through the door and Princess Arvayne looking at him with a questioning stare, Vigil couldn't help but think that he was hearing things.
"Are you okay Vig? Why did you suddenly yell like that?"
"I... apologize for my outburst, I thought that I heard your voice for a second."
Giving the two of them a curt bow, Vigil turned back around and resumed what he was previously doing.
'What's happening today? That is the second time the I heard someone yell without them actually saying anything.'
After finishing the task of tying up the curtains, Vigil turned to look at the princess. Noticing that Etwin left the room, he proceeded to tell her about her schedule for today.
"Lady Arvayne, I will call in the maids to get you dressed. After that, you will eat breakfast with his and her majesty and then proceed to tutoring with professor Shtil."
Hearing her schedule, the princess stared at Vigil for a few seconds, then started to cough profusely.
"Sorry Vig, I am feeling kind of sick today so I don't hink I can go to tutoring."
After giving the princess a blank stare for a good few seconds, Vigil walked towards the door, opened it, and called for the maids. Turning back around to look at the princess once more, Vigil gave her a curt bow once more.
"I will escort you to the dining hall once you are dressed and ready for the day."
Leaving the room, Vigil closed the door and waited for the maids to come in to dress his lady.
Felling tired from staying up all night due to excitement about his birthday, Vigil covered his mouth in hopes of silencing his yawn. During the yawn, he closed his eyes and got a decent stretch in as well.
"So, Princess Arvayne, today I will be teaching you about the five superpowers of War Field."
Hearing this, Vigil quickly opened his eyes and noticed that he was no longer standing in the hallway in front of the princesses personal quarters. Instead, he realized that he was now standing at the back of a room lined with bookshelves. In this room, besides the bookshelves, was a desk directly in the middle of everything and a giant blackboard the covered the wall that Vigil was now facing.
Sitting in the desk was Princess Arvayne with a textbook out in front of her and a bored look on her face. At the front of the room was an old man with grey hair, wearing a professional suit. That man was Professor Shtil and he was currently drawing something on the blackboard with a piece of chalk, his back facing towards Vigil and the princess.
'I swear I was just somewhere else. Am I really that tired that it feels as if I skipped a part of my day?'
*Clack*
Hearing the sound of chalk being put down, Vigil turned his thoughts away from what just happened and directed his attention towards the blackboard.
Drawn on the blackboard was a less than detailed map of the known world with five marked locations.
"As you can see from this map, there are five locations that you must memorize. The places I have marked are the four great empires and the city of mercenaries."
Hearing Professor Shtil talk about the topic of the day, Princess Arvayne sat up and, from the looks of it, finally started to pay attention.
Professor Shtil, seeing this, pointed towards the top of the map.
"In the northern reaches of War Field lies the religious empire of Lumarta. The religious empire, contrary to many ignorant people's beliefs, is a country that doesn't believe in just one religion, but all of them. Lumarta is a place where, no matter one's beliefs or traditions, you are treated the same as everyone else."
Finishing up with Lumarta in the north, he then pointed towards the right side of the map.
"To the east is the magical empire of Zoul. Zoul is a war going empire that believes in magical supremacy compared to all other forms of, well, everything. Whether it be in advancement of technology or in combat, the empire of magic believes that magic is at the top. Out of the four great empires, our country lays closest to this one."
After finishing his description of Zoul, the professor stopped for a second before moving his hand and pointing it at the bottom of the map.
"Taking up the southernmost regions of War Field is the technological empire of Tol'el. The people of Tol'el just wants to advance their technology as far as they possibly can before they die so, unlike Zoul, they tend to keep out of wars directly and instead sell their goods to other countries."
The next place the professor introduced was the place leftmost on the map drawn.
"The final of the four great empires is the knightly empire of Ygultra. This empire believes in fairness, loyalty, and honor is above all else. Hense why the country is nicknamed the chivalric empire instead of the knightly empire. Ygultra and Zoul have been at war for thousands of years with both sides losing and gaining ground every day."
Drawing a line between the two empires that lay in the east and west respectively to represent their conflict, the professor finally pointed towards the location at the center of the map.
"This place here is called Mercy, the city of mercenaries. Having the most diverse population throughout War Field, it is its epicenter as well as the place that yields the highest combat power. The entire city is full of mercenaries as its name implies. Not only that, but Mercy is also well known as the one place that should never be attacked. It doesn't matter what country it is, the number of soldiers, overall combat power, anything. Even the four great empires would never dare to try and take mercy for itself."
With a confused look on her face, Princess Arvayne raised her hand.
"Why would powers as great as the four great empires even want to avoid taking over just a single city?"
"A good question. The reason behind their avoidance of taking over Mercy is due to something that happened in the past."
Looking back at the map he created, Professor Shtil drew a vertical line down it and proceeded to shade the entire left side then pointed at it.
"This place here was the largest empire to ever be here in War Field. Its name was Dedlahm, the failed empire."
Looking back at the princess the professor said-
"To make a long story short, Dedlahm got greedy and wanted to take Mercy for itself. However, the inhabitants of Mercy didn't take too kindly to the idea of being taken over. So, in the span of six and a half years, the largest empire to exist fell."
'A country strong enough to take over half of War Field was destroyed within six and a half years by a single city and its inhabitance? But how? How could a single place be so small yet so strong?'
"Thankfully"
The professor began to speak once more.
"Mercy is neutral in all wars. Afterall, the majority of its people are mercenaries. As long as they get paid enough and it doesn't go against their code, they would do anything."
Taking a glance at the clock hanging on the wall, Professor Shtil began to wrap up this part of the lesson.
"Before we continue, there is one more thing that I must tell you about the city of mercenaries, it is my duty as an educator after all. If something, anything at all were to happen to the country in which you reside, in your case Gravolta, make it to Mercy, there you will be safe. However, you shouldn't be worried about me saying that, it is just a precautionary measure all teachers tell their students in case things were to go bad."
Turning back around to erase what he wrote, the professor-
"Happy Birthday sweety!"
'Huh?'
Feeling two arms wrap around and squeeze him, Vigil couldn't help but wonder what was going on.
Being let go of the tight bear hug, Vigil looked around and noticed that he was no longer in the classroom. Instead, he was currently standing in the middle of his mother's personal quarters.
Looking at the person that hugged him, he saw Maria standing in front of him with a beautiful smile on her face.
Turning towards the wall, Vigil saw his mother look at the picture of her and his father.
"Todays the day honey, our little Vig will finally inherit the Promise."
Although Vigil could barely hear it, he was still able to make out what his mother had said.
Looking at the sword hanging on the wall, she picked it up with one hand on the hilt and the other on the scabbard and turned towards Vigil.
Looking at her young boy, Maria couldn't help but tear up while smiling.
"Here you go Vig, happy ninth birthday."
She said holding the sword out in front of her with a voice as sweet as nectar.
Picking up the sword from his mother's hands, Vigil realized just how heavy an actual sword was as he almost dropped it on the floor from the sheer weight.
Making sure to carefully lift it with both hands, Vigil inspected the swords scabbard. After looking at the scabbard for a few seconds, he laid its tip on the ground, grabbing the hilt with one hand and the piece of the scabbard closest to the guard with the other.
Pulling on the hilt, Vigil was finally able to see the sword metallic sheen after nine long years of just guessing at its appearance.
Looking at the blade, he noticed words that were recognizable, yet foreign.
Noticing Vigil look at the words on the blade, Maria spoke to him, telling him what it said.
"It says Promise in english, Vig."
"English? As in the lost language?"
Seeing his mother nod her head up and down, Vigil couldn't help but look at the sword in an even more wonderous light.
After some time, Vigil sheathed the sword and held it to his chest with both arms.
Looking up at his mother, Vigil couldn't help but give her the biggest grin he possibly could. The grin was actually so wide that it had forced his eyes closed.
"Thanks mom! I love you so-"
"RUN!"
'What?'
Opening his eyes, Vigil finally saw it. The reason why today felt so out of place.