Prolouge

              

               The sun was setting on the sparkling city of Ramanadrid, capitol of Zintha Empire. The tall silver-blue tower that stretched over the packed in skyscrappers was the heart of the city. Its shadow, stretching out for miles. Its three legs curved upward and met together to form the body of the tower. At the top of this tower was a large, black dome that could have been the size of a large town. It was perfectly smooth and nothing could get in. That was the way King Rama wanted it. This was what he called home, his stronghold, and so did his many Imperious. King Rama was the third ruler of the rather young empire and it had been only recently that his empire truly became the dominant power of the entire world. He ruled about two thirds of the entire planet of Polyphia. Most say that his Imperious were the ones behind his success and that was a very large understatement. If it were not for the genetically enhanced mutants that he raised in this dome the entire kingdom would not exist. If you’re thinking that these unnatural humans are mere soldiers than you are completely wrong. They were the nobles of the kingdom and they thought themselves so high that the only contact between them and the common folk was either on the battlefield or as servants in their luxurious homes across the empire.

                In the dome is the most luxurious estate of all the Empire. When you reach the dome you are immediately in the garden court yard of the castle where you would find many of the young Imperious playing. It is filled with only the finest of plants. Than you go through a 15-foot-high door made of pure silver into a large, round ballroom with no roof, or so it seemed. It was actually the dome. From the outside it was just black but on the inside it was crystal clear. From that room on, there so many twisted hallways with rooms for the Imperious who were not old enough yet to be on their own and for many of the powerful visitors that visited often there, there is no time to describe them all. But if your wondering where this story begins, it is back in the courtyard.

                In it there are the young Imperious going back into the castle through a side door. The boys were dressed in tan slacks and loose white shirts and the girls wore white cotton dresses. Standing at a fountain in the courtyard, ignoring their peers, was a boy and a girl. They were twins. Eight years-old. They both had beautiful, brown hair. The boy's was bowl-cut and the girl's hair was long and straight. Their eyes were exact copies. Large and hazel. The girl's name was Natala and the boy's was Natarich.

                Natarich was stroking the water with his index finger when a drowning ladybug crawled on to his hand. He brought it closer to his face to examine it.

                "Why does father keep so many bugs here sis?" he asked Natala.

                She looked at the bug with very little concern, "It's to help the plants. Bugs and plants seem to work together for some reason. I don't know much but you can ask someone like Wegret. He knows everything."

                "But that's 'cause he never leaves the library," he moaned.

                They stood there silent watching the ladybug crawl around Natarich's hand and than it flew off. He sprinted after it.

                "Get back here!" Natala shouted but he kept on running, "We have to go in soon!"

                The lady bug landed on the ground and he dived for it. He missed. It flew off into the night and when he tried to get back up, his sister sat right on his back. He tried to wiggle out but his sister was still stronger, much stronger, than him. He always wondered how come he seemed so weird compared to the other children. Everyone else had some special power. The only thing that made him special was his ability to get in trouble but compared to some of his siblings who had powers beyond human capability, he was nothing.

                "Who's that?" his sister asked as she hopped off him. She was looking at a single man in a black cloak entering through the main door, "No one ever comes here alone."

                Most people were accompanied by either family or servants.

                "Weird," Natarich muttered.

                "Where are the twins?" they heard a lady shout from the house.

                The two took off in a mad dash, trying to get back to the other children inside. They knew if they didn't get in soon than Mrs. Jinfa would chew their ears off. Mrs. Jinfa was in charge of the young Iperious. She made sure that all eight-teen were feed, clean and taken care of. She was extremely strict since she was the one who would mold them into the proper Children they were meant to be.

                They made it to the steel door that only the children and servants used. Mrs. Jinfa was a tall woman in a black uniform and she had a gold pin of a lion, meaning she was a high ranked servant, and as she was standing at the door, arms crossed, she was tapping her foot in an attempt to vent. Her jet black hair was tightly spun into a bun that seemed to tighten her own features and her glasses were sharp and thick. She had very poor sight. She was in her mid-forties, but she still held vigor and vigilance, just not in a good way.

                "Where have you been?" she demanded.

                "We were off playing for a bit more, ma'am," Natala answered, stepping forward, propping her posture to resemble something like a soldier's salute.

                "You were fully aware that it was time to come in when you saw the other children," she said in a very unforgiving voice.

                This time Natarich stepped forward, but unlike his sister he was afraid, "It was my fault Mrs. Jinfa. Natala told me but I kept on playing," he managed to barely speak loud enough for anyone to hear.

                "Natala, go inside," Mrs. Jinfa growled, Natala quickly went inside, Mrs. Jinfa raised her nose, "You are a Child! You should not know what fear is and if you fear me than you will be killed by enemies ten times more frightful than me!"

                "I'm not like the other Children. I can't see into future like my sister or throw fire or fly or anything. Am I even a Child?"

                She snickered, "Do you think that your gift is supposed to be so flashy?" she took a breath of relief, "No. You were made to be strategic genius. How many people have beaten you at a game of chess?"

                "Professor Dearling has done it a thousand times!"

                "Yes, but he’s different. He's had decades to study and he is your mentor. I've seen you play against dozens of adults and you've beaten them."

                "But didn't the king make me to able to talk with Natala in our heads or something?"

                "Well yes but that part didn't quite work. Enough talk. You're going to be late for dinner."

                "I'm not hungry," he muttered to the ground.

                "Or are you afraid of the Prince?"

                She was right. For as long as he could remember, the ten-year-old Prince Fadellorado was his biggest fear for reasons you'll soon learn.

                "How did you know about that?"

                "I see what he does to you. Does it hurt every time you’re around each other?"

                "Only when we look each other in the eyes."

                "It must be a burden to be in the same room with a person who can do that to you."

                "It is."

                "Well you're just going to have to suck it up and face him. Heavens know that you can't confront that demon of a boy but if you show up to dinner, you'll show him you’re not terrified of him.

                She pushed him through the door into a brightly lighted hall way with white-marble walls, floors, and ceiling. There were various art works on the walls as it was in every hall way that was passed the ballroom. In this hallway, there were frames with battle scenes in them.

                He made his way down the hallway and other identical hallways until he approached a dark-brown, wooden door with a lion engraved over the entire front. He pushed it opened just enough for him to get through. The lighting was different in this room. The only source of light was a very large fire in a fireplace but it was enough. The walls were black and the tile was black marble. The proper word for the room was haunting. This was where the King dinned. There was table made of pure gold in the shape of a droplet and inside the table there were chefs cooking right in front of them. Where there would usually be pointy tip was a rounded edge where the king sat in a large throne made of gold. Than the silver chairs would go along the edge. To his left was his current mistress, she was a tall beautiful woman with her blonde hair tied in a loose bun. She was wearing a light green dress made of a thin material that was very flexible, very handy for a woman six months pregnant. Than his direct heirs would be next and to his right would be a powerful guest. Than the next five chairs on both sides would be for guest and than the eighteen Children would fill in the rest of the chairs.

                Natorich looked for his empty seat next to Natala and found her on the left side of table wording "Hurry up and sit down."

                He hurried over to the chair and sat down silently. He looked at the people around the table. The most noticeable person at the table every night was his father. The King had long flowing silver hair that reached well past his shoulders tucked beneath a silver circlet. He wore a thick fur cape from an Arasi Ecla Bear. It was an extinct species that had emerald colored fur and spots like a leopard. He had a taste for the rare things that no one else could imagine of obtaining. His shirt was red silk and Natorich couldn't see what the pants were but he was sure it would be something that Natorich would hate.

                 Natorich was sitting between the two children that he could stand. To his left was his twin and to his right was a tall boy with short, curly, blonde hair. His name was Ganvorce, though he insisted on being called Gan. He was the fifth oldest amongst the Imperious staying at the palace and was third strongest. Gan was able to, as he explained it, build up static electricity quickly in his body and focus it into any form he wanted. Natorich just simplified it to "shoots lightning". Gan was six-teen, only two years from leaving the palace.

                "So what kept you this time?" Gan asked with a dirty grin, "More lectures from Mrs. Jinfa?"

                "Sort of," Natorich muttered as he ate the soup in front of him, "More like a pep talk."

                "Just another form of lecturing," he countered

                Gan had a lot of issues with Mrs. Jinfa, and since Natorich was a constant target of hers, Gan felt a large amount of sympathy for Natorich.

                "She meant good," Natorich defended.

                "I'm not saying she didn't. I just don't like lectures."

                A thin grin grew on  Natorich's rather sad expressoin. He loved Gan's dry humor and Gan liked having a fan.

                Natorich decided to look at what guess they had tonight and all there was were four identical large women in fancy gowns and a small man. The chair right next the mistress, that tonight should have held Fadellorado was empty

                "Where's the prince and the other guest?" he asked nervously.

                Gan winced, "There was another guest?"

                "Yeah Natala saw him too, but we couldn't see his face."

                "What was he wearing?" Gan was starting to look a little scared. That wasn't a good sign.

                "I don't know. He wearing black robe with a hood."

                "If he's a guest than he would be here with us," he muttered quietly to his self, "Unless he's here for darker work."

                "What are you talking about?" the girl next to Gan hissed bitterly, "Are you saying that the king, the most honorable man in the world and is basically our father, would soil his hands in some plot?"

                This girl was about the same age as Gan. She had long, curly, auburn hair with a pink steak on the left part of her banes. Her name was Anitia. She was a very passionate girl. No other Imperious was so loyal to the King. If anybody even looked at the king wrong, which was still pretty uncommon for the people feared their king, she would make them apologize directly to him, but she couldn't make Gan and she knew it. She was also a very powerful Child. She could literally see everything that was going on in an area. Again, much more complex than that but this is eight-year-old children were following here.

                "I wasn't talking about the king."

                She was about to say something but the fury of passion in her eyes suddenly faded to cold fear.

                "Enough," she whispered, "the Phantom Prince is about to come."

                And just as she finished, the door opened and a boy entered through along with a deep chill. Fadellorado. Though he was young, he held such a strong presence that it was paralyzing. His thickly cropped silver hair, grey eyes, and perfect, milky skin gave him the title "Phantom Prince". Natorich started panic silently in his head as the prince passed behind him. Most lost their appetites when he was around. He was the most powerful person in the palace and there was no one to argue but no one could quite explain what entirely the prince was capable of. He could of breaking bones like twigs and he could turn people into his puppets though he was forced to wear special contacts that prevented him from using it. He had already been on the battle field and been declared as a prodigy of war. He wore a white dress shirt under a dark blue military coat with a dozen pins across his heart.

            The king grew a smile as his son approached. He was either proud of his son or feared him. No one had quite figured out which.

                "My son!" he called out in cheerful manner, "What kept you from dinner?"

                "I had to take care of something," he said very calmly, too calmly. No one questioned what the something was as he sat down next to his mother. If they did than it would possibly be the last that anyone saw of them.

                Natorich tried not to look but he felt a force making him look up along with the rest of the group. Not like a big smile but a little smirk. Natorich fell forward onto the table. His heart beat began to race to the point where it started to hurt. His head began to pulse with pain but when the prince turned away the pain disappeared. It always happened when Fadellorado made eye contact and he never got used to it. It was fortunate for Natorich that they weren't around each other too often since the young prince had become part of the military. 

                He felt a hand on his back. He looked up to see Natala looking at him with concern.

                "Did he do it again?" she whispered.

                "Yeah but I'm ok."

                He sat back up again and turned to his right and Gan hadn't been paying any attention or was ignoring the fact that his friend had been in pain. All the Imperiusus knew what happened when Fadellorado and Natorich were around but no one did anything about it. No one had the will to stand up for the youngest of the Children.

                "I'm going to bed," he threw his spoon gently on a napkin.

                "But you barely touched your soup," his twin complained.

                "Like anyone can eat when he's around," he hissed as he got up.

                He charged for the door. Anger startled to boil in his head. Why was he always a target for everyone? Was it because he had no actual power? He just sank lower and lower until he was in full self-pity. He passed servants doing various chores as he went along. He didn't look at any of them. He just kept on walking and walking in a pit of despair. He didn't even notice that he passed his room. He wandered the hallways for a good thirty minutes until he ran into something, or someone. He snapped out of his daze and looked up to see that he ran into the back of a man in a black cloak, the same that he saw earlier. The man turned around revealing his face. It was a woman. She had a long scar going across her tan face, but it started to open revealing thick rows of teeth. It was actually her mouth. She had purple hair coming out like straw stuffed in a scarecrow and her eyes were like gold marbles. This wasn't a woman, he thought, this was a monster.

                "Wh-what are you?" He could feel his throat tighten.

                The monster didn't answer. Instead she/it reached out with her hands, covered by her long sleeves. He started to run but the she/monster was fast. She picked him up quickly and threw him over her shoulders.

                "Someone, help me!" he screamed but he realized there was no one else around.

                He was about to shout again but he felt the swift hand of the woman's hit the back of his neck and he was knocked out.

 

                He woke up slowly. His eyes felt like they were sown down. He finally got them opened all the way. He was in a small room with a small chandelier hanging in the center. The walls were a crimson red that made him feel a little sick and floor was black carpet. A plain wooden door was across the room. He was lying in a small, cot-like bed with brown covers. He tried to sit up but there was no energy in his body to do so. When he did his head got dizzy from the strain and was forced to give up.

                He had never seen this room before but on the other hand he hadn't been to nearly half the rooms in the castle so he just assumed that he was still in the castle but there was something to the place that didn't seem right. What was it, he asked himself. It was the smell. In the palace there was a hint of fresh flowers in the air but here he smelt some cheap air refresher that tried to imitate fresh linens. He tried to figure out what was going on when the door opened.

                A young woman with long, silky, white hair entered the room. She was beautiful. No older than thirty. Her big, blue eyes twinkled with joy and her thick eyelashes were like little fans. She had a very healthy complexion but it didn't look like she had slept recently. She wore a long white lab coat with a pocket protector filled with pens and a name tag with a picture of her face on it hanged off a little metal clip and under the coat was green cotton, t-shirt that snuged her body just right. In large letters it said DR. MESERA FLAND next to the picture.

                Natorich couldn't help but blush when she looked at him with those big blue eyes. His cheeks felt like charcoal straight from the pit.

           She gave him a look that reminded him of how the king's mistress would sometimes look at her pregnant belly, dreaming of how the child would turn out.

                "I'm glad you're awake," she said very kindly. Her voice was smooth, sweet, passionate, and, most of all, loving.

                He tried to say something but all that came out was a crack of his voice.

                "Oh," she said suppressing a giggle, "I'm sorry. I forgot to give you this," she pulled out vile filled with a clear green liquid, "Now open your mouth," she ordered. Of course he couldn't do that to well. She used two fingers to pry his mouth open and poured the liquid down his throat. To his surprise, it was tasteless though it didn't really want to go down at first but with in a few seconds he had enough strength to swallow the liquid. Inch by inch, the numbness in his body went away. He sat back up slowly.

                "What happened?" he managed to mutter.

                She looked as if she didn't really want to tell him, "First I need to introduce myself,” she reached out her hand, "I am Dr. Mesera Fland."

                He didn't take her hand. She caught on quickly.

                "What happened to me?" he demanded

                "Well, you were kidnapped," she answered bluntly.

                "By who?"

                "A Xani."

                "A what?"

                "They're an ancient race of people that usually don't associate with the Empire."

                "What were they doing in the palace?"

                "This is where things get a little complex. The Phantom Prince is trying to gather his own army so he can take over the empire."

                "And what does that have to do with me?"

                "He was trying to make an allegiance with the Xannian Empire. He was going to give them you in exchange for control of the Xanies but I had connections and was able to stop him."

                "Why me?"

                "You were the weakest," for a second her face lost its charm and seemed harsh, "of the Children but they didn't know that."

                That hurt him a bit. He turned away from her and started to sulk.

                He felt a gentle hand land on his shoulder. He turned around

                "Are you sick of being the weakest?"

                "Yes," he answered quickly.

                "Than I might be of service," she said with a cute little grin on her face, "Follow me."

                She walked out of the room and he followed like a puppy. He wanted what ever this woman was offering and he wanted to finally hurt Fadellerado for a change.

                When he went through the door he was confused. Instead of the palace's uniform hallway, he found himself at the end of a small hallway with wood floor and the same the crimson walls. Five chandeliers, identical to the one in the room, went down the middle of the ceiling. The doctor was already a little ahead; her black heals, which he just noticed, clicked loudly with each step. He hurried up to her and they went through the next door into a large lobby. He couldn't move. His heart started to pound so hard that his chest started to get sore

                 It had a large fire pit in the center of the room and there were four thickly cushioned couches circled around it. Two black, spiraling stairs on each side of the room led upward to the next level. Large book shelves filled with ancient tomes lined the walls. To the left was a large wooden door that reminded him of the entrance to the palace stood to his left.            

                "Where- where are we?" he glared at the doctor. He was starting to hyperventilate.  

                "Calm down," she told him with a gentle smile, "You’re in a very safe place."

                Now he was getting angry. He never felt so much anger fill his body.

                "Where are we?" he hissed.

                She looked a surprised but that was only for a few seconds.

                "If you must know, this is The Great Haven Hotel."

                "I've never heard of it."

                "Of course. It's only a few weeks old and is a little far from the eyes of the king."

                His heart rose to his throat.

                "How far?"

                "Outside of Hartoria, on the other side of the world."

                He felt dizzy. Like someone hit him in the head really hard with a bat. He all of a sudden felt like he was the tiniest . Hartoria was a trade city on the edge of the Empire approximately four-thousand, five-hundred, and thirty-seven miles away, or for what he could remember from his rigorous geography classes.

                "Why am I here?"

                She got down to his level and grabbed both his shoulders gently.

                "So you can be the strongest," she whispered softly.

                He thought about it for a bit, turning away from the older lady.

                "The King will be looking for me," he pointed out.

                "Most likely not,"

                "But why? I am an Imperious!"
                "The Phantom Prince would most likely insist on leading the search party so he can cover his tracks."

                "He can't do that!"

                "Oh but he can. Natorich, you know better than anyone how powerful the Prince can be."

                She knew more than he thought

                "You know what he does to me?"

                "Not exactly. I have contacts in the palace. They tell me that when you make eye contact with him, you feel intense pain."

                "You still haven’t really answered my question. You told me you want to make me stronger but what for."  

                She didn't seem to like the question.

                "If you want to know, than follow me."

                She walked over to the fire pit. Pulled out a stone and a key from her coat. There was a hole in the rock and when she put the key in it the grouted surface popped off. There was a green scanner beneath it. She placed her hand on it and the scanner glowed light blue.

                "Name and code," said an artificial female voice.

                "Dr. Mesera Fland. 0694823157"

                "Approved," the voice responded.

                The fire pit itself started to rise and right beneath it was a shiny metal elevator. Its silver door slid open and a ding echoed through out the den.

                "What is this?" he started to back up.

                "This," she began, "is the beginning of your march to power. Once you step in there is no turning back, well, there really haven't had any choice since you woke up."

                "Where does it go?"

                "To my lab."

                "Why is there a lab beneath your hotel?"

                She giggled, "It's not my hotel. I only own the laboratory beneath it."

                "Than whose is it?"

                "You'll see,” she said with a wink.

                She hopped in the elevator, but he wasn't so sure he should follow. He didn't even know what it was that was waiting for him but against all doubt the ignorant, childish want for power was overcoming him.

                He stepped in and the doors closed.

 

Reviews

[Donald Meikle]

OK I'm hooked. Saw a few errors.. minor. Like where it's going

[Chirpy!]

i would capitalize powerful guest. You should write Powerful Guest because that will help people understand how amazing and advanced these children really are. otherwise they might think of the children older than they really are.
Great job! I want more!!!!