Prologue: The Interview. (Emelia POV)

Cold rattling chains, blackness, scurrying rats licking clean the bones around me. A battle, blood, screams piercing the hollow night air, they stab at my ears like spikes one after another. A giant rises above the rooftops, a woman bandaged from head to toe. All to be seen on her is a pair of ancient yellow eyes standing above me. The giant looms close behind a great sword clutched in his hands. The woman's words rattle my bones and twist at my nerves like little hot pokers, poke, poke, again and again.

"Emelia, you're a stain upon this world. A mistake." The woman pauses.

"No, you are the greatest mistake this world has ever known. But, due to the will of the Phoenix, you shall die." Her voice clings to the air around us; it rattles me to the core.

"Be thankful. Your blood will be the paint for the new world's canvas." Her words are ice; no, they're fire! They threaten to burn what's left of me!

"Now die, Emelia Shroud." She draws her long thin rapier, the hilt a golden phoenix its tiny green jewel eyes glitter from the fire dancing around us.

Then that's when my memory goes black.

My thoughts pick up here in this darkened reality, this cell with chains firmly shackled around my wrists and ankles. The cold floor sends a chill up my bare legs.

Why am I in a prison, no it's probably a holding cell. Well this is an interesting predicament.

Observing the rest of myself, I notice that I'm in this. Bag? No but honestly I can't really find another way to describe whatever I'm wearing. Fates, it's so itchy against my skin. Man wish I had my armor. I feel so naked without it.

Suddenly a scraping of something large against grainy stone sends me against the far wall, fear gripping my pounding heart, my body shakes from the fear of being attacked again. Light pours into the cell. I cover my eyes from the unwelcome light. Around the corner appears two guards. The light shines off their dark armor. They carry a spear each. My heart thuds in my chest my breathing becomes erratic.

My heart slows down slightly, allowing me to catch the breath I didn't realize I held in. When I see The Four Cities of Fate Diamond Flag etched onto their breastplates.

Behind the guards, a tall woman cuts through with black hair. Her bangs dyed the color of a freshly lit flame adding to her intensity. Her black cloak flows down to sit just above her feet and has the Four Cities Emblem on the back stitched in actual golden thread. She has a large, elegant-looking blade that curves down her back; the hilt is taped to the sheath with a strange white tape with a strange symbol painted on the tape. In addition to that, there's a simple short sword strapped to her hip.

I come back from my thoughts when behind her appears a maid with pink hair, contrasting the cell's dull grey walls. Her maid outfit gives this illusion she is weak. Except her aura radiates off her in waves making the room almost suffocating. Her silver eyes poke at mine making me press my back harder against the wall. That gaze it cuts through me like soft cheese. It's like she can see my sins. But she is nothing compared to the girl with black hair. Though her aura is suppressed, I can feel the immense power she still puts off.

Then in walks a man, not a large man, but his presence dominates the room. His footsteps are heavy and precise as they walk around the corner. My breath catches as I see their face. It's King Ezekiel. He smiles a smile that eases my worries. What's scary is how genuine it is. Then he lets loose a bit of his aura, and the chill of the room vanishes, and my shivering stops.

The scraping happens again as the light from outside disappears, throwing us back into the dim glow of the torch light. The oppressive feeling I get from the two women's magic makes the room suffocating then my heart is off to the races again. I begin too feel the panic setting back in. The King is no different than these girls. His aging face doesn't fool me. The intense warm aura this man puts off can make any flames cold to the touch. There is a endless fiery anger in his aura that he tries to hide behind that real smile.

The King grabs a chair from the corner of the room he drags it across the floor. It echoes through the cell. The chairs resting place is in front of my cell, then he turns it around and takes a seat. He stares at me with his solid royal yellow eyes. He has a greying beard that complements the ferocity behind them. At the age of forty-seven, the King is good-looking. A few wrinkles around the eyes, that's it.

"Hello, Miss Shroud." He says in a commanding voice.

"I'm sorry for the state we have left you in, but at this point and time, you are considered a Traitor to the Kingdom. " His eyes cut right through me.

"A Traitor!?" My heart skips a beat.

"Yes, as of now, you are charged with the crime of destroying the city of Bladesfall." His eyes lock with mine, glowing as bright as the torchlight in the cell's darkness.

Vigorously I shake my head." It wasn't me!"

I try to speak but my words are caught in the web of fear my mind has weaved.

Looking into his eyes is like staring directly at the Starlight.

Fates, this man, is just as scary as the stories say.

"Oh? Then let me ask a few questions to see if this is true." He continues to make eye contact, his intense gaze never wavers.

Looking to the girl with black hair she leans back against the far cell wall. Then back to the maid she stands right next to the king her fist clenched. But they both have stares as intense as the Kings.

Man, how can anyone not be crushed under the pressure of these three's magic? The force their magic puts off in this small room is too much. I can't peel myself away from the wall, they're auras feel dangerous like one wrong word and I'll die.

Fates what a way to break a person.

"Emelia, please give me a short explanation of what happened at Bladesfall." The King says.

It's time for me to give my side of the story. Despite the pit in my stomach, I take a few deep breaths and force the words out.

"My, my, memory is scattered, but to get straight to the point, it was some small army. They came from no where just poof and the city was already burning." The maid shifts slightly, moving closer to my cell door.

"It started with that giant dropping from the mountaintop. His descent to the city caused such a massive explosion that he took the most out without even lifting a finger." I stop as my eyes become wet. The screaming I can still hear their cries for help."

I take a breath and continue

"Following the giant came the woman in her skin-tight blue robe. She was covered from head to toe in bandages. She came from a light beam that shot down from what seemed like heaven. It fried a vast section of the city, killing thousands."

The kings eyes look away as he hears about the Woman. But correct themselves by looking back to me.

"Lastly, followed by These twins one was a sizeable man, and woman both had gigantic swords, came last with an army of three thousand or more. The King nods.

Taking a quick peek at the girl with the curved blade, I see her eyes go wide then she comes off the wall and walks over to the cage. Then she speaks.

"What did the sword users look like?" She grabs at the cage aggressively, making it rattle slightly.

"They had I think umm the girl had fishnet under wolf skin armor. The guy was tall, had very dark skin, and had a massive sword. He, I think, wore wyvern scale armor." So I say, and it makes her look almost panicked.

She looks at the King they both nod.

"That's how it started," I tell them, hoping to save my skin.

The three seemed content then the King resumes his interrogation.

"Can you explain why they would attack?" The King asks me.

"I remember hearing through the rumor mills, and hearsay was that the Council knew about the attack weeks before it. But blew it off as Bluster." The king now looks upset as his mouth curls into a upside down U.

"Why would they not send that through the proper channels?x He asks me.

"I don't know that." Which is true.

"But the Council always ignored danger of it would cut into their profits. That's a normal occurrence for the trade capital, so no one took it seriously." I say.

The King nods.

"On a different note, I know you were affiliated with Lucy Smite." My heart drops hearing my best friends name.

"Intel said she was there during the attack please tell me what happened to her?" His eyes are not as locked in as before. They're more sympathetic.

My mind drags me screaming back to that dreadful moment Lucy, my best friend, standing before me. Her Aqua blue eyes shining in the light from the brutal fire dancing around us. Her long ocean green hair scattering around her head.

Her lips move but all I can hear is the crackling of the raging void of flames, mixed ever so eloquently with the screams of the now deceased. Lucy faces down the Woman in blue who was so unbelievably powerful.

Lucy's lips move as her beautiful Green aura dances around her. My mind can't recall the words she said. Whatever they were, they were now buried under a wall of water, smoke, and eternal darkness.

Then I answer the King's question with that memory painting the inside of my head with endless red fury.

"Dead, sir." He nods.

"I see." He pauses.

"If Lucy Smite has fallen even with her power then this group is more serious than I anticipated." A brief pause from the King a she looks up to the ceiling and back to me.

"Also, I am sorry for your loss. I know you two were close friends and grew up together." His hard yellow eyes soften.

Anger rushes over me, swallowing up my anxiety and fear anger like a broken dam of flowing water unable to be slowed.

"Save your pity. You don't know my relationships. Plus, shouldn't you be glad she's dead!? She did serve a Kingdom outside your damn Kings Coalition!"

"You made her life a living hell!" The anger it won't let me go all I want is to see this man Bleed.

His eyes break from mine for a short moment, a hint of fear. But with a quick blink, they hone back in as hard as the stone we walk on.

"You banished her from your kingdom! Made her never have a home! Guess what she died protecting your Kingdom!"

The maid kicks the cage bending the thick steel bars causing the entire building to rattle. The red reality that just took hold of me cracks.

"You will show respect to your king!!" The maid shouts, her voice makes my ears scream in agony.

On top of that, as she shouts I saw a glint of something shining from underneath the maid's sleeve.

Quickly I clamp down on my senses as I do not want to feel her Aura. From the glimpse I just got, this woman could topple Fort Mountainia herself. Honestly, I can't even open my mouth.

The King clears his throat and sets a gentle hand on the maids shoulder. Which makes the maid back down.

"Now, Sakura, please, no violence. She just lost her home and family. The most I can do is allow her to be angry." He looks back at me.

"Two more questions. Question One."What happened to Janet Smite?" My heart drops again the raw fury seeping its fangs back into my reality. This memory is faint but still a scar on my mind. With a choice, I decide not to tell him the whole story just yet. So I give him a simple but direct answer.

"Also dead, sir. Died fighting The Giant."

The King nods and leans back a bit in the chair.

"Very well, tell me then, how did you escape?"

"How I escaped because of Janet."

He nods for me to continue.

"Janet." I say.

The King nods. "Is Lucy the reason the city was flooded?" My eyes bite into the kings.

"Yes, that was Lucy. Janet was why half the other half city was a smoldering ruin. Those bastards forced the hand of a good woman to make such a decision. She should be known as a hero, but she won't because of a forced decision!" My tears flow now I can't hold back.

"They destroyed a wonderful woman's reputation; she will now be known as a murderer for what she did. She had to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people! Now she won't be remembered for the merits of good she did for this goddamn Kingdom!" My anger begins to flare again, causing my aura to leak out. The building starts to shake. The black-haired girl reaches for the sword at her hilt, but the King stops her.

That calming aura of his wraps around me causing the building from collapsing from the pressure of my aura.

"As the King, I will ensure her legacy will not be tarnished. I knew she was Loyal to this Kingdom." He smiles his natural smile at me.

"She wasn't the Famous general of my Father's army for nothing. I read her Biographies." He smiles brightly.

"Also you may not know that she taught me a lot about how to lead people. I respect Janet she was a good loyal woman."

I know that the King is a bright man. He is saying everything that should be said. He is so good at making you feel good But something irks me about him. Sure, he seems like a good man; many reports in the archives said that. Except, if you look deep enough his aura, there is this unfathomable anger in his aura that terrifies me.

I continue my story now calm again.

"Then I think I must have passed out because that's when it all goes black." Shrugging is all I can do at this point.

The King nods and looks at Alva, then at Sakura.

"So the Intel we have believes the giant Janet fought was Giant King Oto. I myself have a hard time believing that since he was killed thousands of years ago. But with your story and all the evidence seems to prove me wrong in this matter." He say then leans forward lifting the chairs legs off the floor.

"What I am curious about is how he is still around without us noticing?" He sets the chair legs back down.

"Besides all that, Janet held her own. She lives up to her legends. Again I know she raised you, so I am sorry for your loss."

He means this. I can believe that. Not as a trick or a ploy, he genuinely seems to care. And that's what bothers me about him.

Then Alva speaks up. "She died a warrior's death. There is no better way to go."

Tears threaten to well up again, but I suppress the emotion.

"Thanks, I guess. Now, what's the last question?" I ask.

The King nods. A small crooked grin forms across his lips.

"Do you want revenge?"

His words curl my bare toes.

"What?" With four words the king scrambles my mind.

"If you're being truthful, which I now believe you are. This group is called the Phoenix Embers. They started small five years ago, maybe four or so rouges, but have grown in power over the years. This is their third attack." Ezikiel says.

"Bladesfall was the biggest attack and the worst we...no. I should have stopped them in their cradle before it happened. For that, I apologize, Emelia. As your King, the sin of those who died is my burden."

His words bring my blood to a boil, even if the apology is genuine.

"If you knew about them why didn't you come to help us!!"

My anger swells and takes over my mind. I lunge at the king rage, moving me like it's my puppeteer. One of my cuffs rips out from the wall. My hand shoots for the King's neck. I'm stopped by the tip of the black-haired girl's short sword at my throat.

My hand just centimeters away from the kings neck.

"Make your next move carefully." Her smouldering red eyes are calculated. A small trickle of blood flows down my neck. It's doubtful that even the cell bars would even hinder her from cutting my throat.

Backing away sober now, I sit back down.

"Alva, please, like I just told Sakura, her anger is justified; please, no more threats." I smack myself mentally at realizing who the black-haired girl is.

"You're Alva Copper, the Reaper of Esterpine."

She slams her sword back into its sheath, and her knuckles are ghost white from the grip on the blade.

She must not like that name honestly who would?

"Last thing is there anything else you wish to tell me? Anything at all?" His eyes don't move from me his smile stays locked in place. But I'm sure his question is loaded like he wants me to say something.

"No not that I can think of?" I tell him.

He smirks." Tell me who drove out the rest of the Army?" He asks me he stands up pushes the chair back and leans against the bars.

"Not sure sir. I passed out." I tell him.

He stares at me for a long moment and smiles again.

"Emelia tell me do you want revenge on the Embers?" The King asks me again.

Revenge against her, the woman in blue, the giant King, the two sword users who decimated my entire world, no my life. Rip apart those who ripped me in two. Who killed the people I loved the most.

I find myself laughing out loud.

His eyebrow raises.

"Absolutely." I say.

He smiles 

So do I.