Chapter 0:

Prologue

The Devil's Vessel


Dartim, Sigmis Kingdom

Rustling sounds heard from an attic in an orphanage in a small town, a boy by the name of Arlen was searching for something. He searched through the piles of junk in the attic. I'm certain it's here. I heard something. Arlen's thought as he looks into the an unopened box. He felt something as he hold the box. He opened the box and found an old book—about at least fifty years. 

This must be it. It has been calling me since last night. Arlen stared at the book for a while. The book had a few pages bulging out of it, its cover is even worn out. What exactly is this book? Should I tell Mother? Arlen thought as he thinks about what to do? Arlen quickly went to his room after all of that. He crept from the attic to his room. He peaked through the door the check if anyone is there—there was no one. He sat on his bed while holding the book he found.

"What have you got there?" Out of nowhere someone shouted at Arlen about the book he is holding. It was Auria, a friend of Arlen. She went up to look for Arlen as she hadn't even seen her after breakfast. 

"Nothing," Arlen said as he quickly hides the book under his pillow hoping Auria didn't notice it.

"It's a bit too late to hide it,"

Auria approaches Arlen. She stared directly at the pillow which Arlen hid the book. Quickly, she snatched the book from Arlen. It was as fast as lighting, she even had a smug on her face as he took the book. She distanced herself from Arlen to prevent from Arlen snatching the book back. 

"What is this?" Auria questioned as she inspected the book. "Where did you get this?" she asked. "Is it from the attic?"

"No it's not,"  Arlen answered with a lie. He nervously looked at other places. 

"You looked away! You're lying!" Auria's sharp observation caught Arlen. "What other weird things have you done up there?"

"Give it back,"
"Let me look at it for a while,"
"I said give it back!" Arlen charged towards Auria trying to get the book back from her. Auria's reflexes dodged Arlen just barely—she felt Arlen caught her clothes. Auria started running around the room; Arlen is just behind her chasing her. Beds disarranged, items fell on the floor, the whole room is a mess—a result from Arlen and Auria's quarrel. 

"You can't catch me!" Auria said mockingly to Arlen. "I'm faster than you and you know it!"

Auria continuously throws belittling remarks at Arlen and then suddenly it happened. Auria tripped and fell on the floor. She turned her back and saw Arlen charging at her in full speed. Arlen caught her and tried getting the book back from her. Auria resisted. They both struggle getting each other to release the book.
"Give it back!"
"I haven't even opened it yet,"
"It's mine!"
"I just wanted to take a look,"

They both continued to fight and then suddenly...

"What are you two doing!" it was Mother—the one who takes care of the orphans. She saw Arlen and Auria fighting.
"It was Arlen!"
"It was Auria!" they both said at the same time.

"I don't care who started it, but every time you two are together, nothing good ever happens," Mother scolded both of them. Both Auria and Arlen got an earful from Mother. They continued listening to her endless lecture. Why does it have to come to this?

After all of that, Auria handed the book to Arlen. "Sorry," Auria spoke softly. Arlen didn't heard what she said, he just took back the book and went to sit on his bed. Auria watches Arlen in silence—she thought if Arlen is mad at her. She exited the room quietly and went downstairs.

Arlen opened the book to see its contents. Page by page he observed. What kind of language is this? He questioned as he saw the book's pages filled with many unknown scriptures. What is this doing in the attic? Arlen closed the book and looked directly at the cover. Somehow every time he looks at the book, it feels as if someone is calling him. He shook his head and put the book under his bed.

Then, it was nighttime. Everyone is sleeping except for two—Arlen and Auria. Auria stares at Arlen from her bed who seems to have difficulty in sleeping. Arlen cannot stop thinking about the book. He struggles to sleep due to his mind filled with thoughts about the weird book. Why was it calling me? Why is it doing in there? Or am I just hallucinating? Thoughts haunted Arlen for a while and finally Arlen got to sleep peacefully.

Auria, who was watching Arlen was in fear as something is appearing from under Arlen's bed. It was some kind of black smoke. Not knowing what to do, Auria cowls herself under her blanket in fear. She peeked from her blanket and saw the smoke covering Arlen. She can't do anything. She just watched as the smoke devours Arlen.


Youopenedmyseal... a silent whisper heard by Arlen's subconscious. Arlen felt uneasy and woke up and looked around—he was not in a familiar space. Where am I? 

"Say, you opened my seal. I really got to thank you for doing that," an unknown voice heard from a distance. "Don't worry you're not dead. This is just a medium for us to communicate,"

"Who are you?" Arlen asked.
"Me? I prefer the name Astaroth to be exact,"
"What are you?"
"Exact details can't be given, but know that I'm just one of the few beings that exists other than humans,"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You'll know soon enough,"
"What do you want from me?"
"Didn't I just said that exact details can't be given?" the voice said "That book you just opened, released me from my 200 years seal. I have tried calling out others from the book and though some answered my call but the seal never broke with them. You here are different, somehow the seal broke after yo—,"


Everything suddenly ended, the voice stopped, Arlen was back in his room on his bed. He looked to his left and saw Auria. So it was just a dream? Arlen was glad that everything that had happened was just a mere dream.

"Are you okay?" Auria asked Arlen. "Some weird smoke came out from under your bed,"
"What do you mean?"
"There's smoke coming from under your bed, it even devoured you,"
"You're just seeing things,"
"No, I'm telling the truth,"
"Is this another prank you're trying to pull off?"
"No! I'm serious. I was worried,"
"Well, it doesn't seem anything had happened to me," Arlen said. "You better go to sleep to,"

Arlen turned away from Auria as she went back to her bed. Was it really a dream? No, I'm certain it's a dream. Then what was Auria talking about? Are they connected in either way. Heh, I'm sure they're just coincidences and Auria is trying to scare me. There's no way something like THAT exists.


Morning comes, everyone is out of their beds getting ready for the day. Arlen looked into the mirror and saw something weird with himself. There's a black mark on his neck—a symbol with eight arrows pointing outwards in a radial pattern. What? Arlen was shocked as he saw the mark.

"If it wasn't for that girl yesterday, I would've finished. And now I'm here explaining for the second time because you think this is just some 'dumb prank'," a voice appeared.

Arlen was transported into a familiar place. So it wasn't a dream.

"Of course, it was not,"
"You can hear my thoughts?"
"You think?"
"You're the entity from yesterday,"
"As I was saying before that girl interrupted me, I've been sealed in this book for 200 years and out of everyone who had this book in their possession, the seal only broke on you,"
"And?"
"And there's something about you that is strange. Well see you again I suppose,"

With a blink of an eye Arlen was transported back in front of the mirror. He pretended as if nothing had happened. Though, Auria has a strange feeling, a feeling that something really had happened to Arlen

Prologue - END