The kingdom of shadows, Umbra. It was one of seven vassal kingdoms, serving under the massive superpower, the Dynasty of elements, Avalon.
The kingdom of shadows had quite the notorious reputation amongst the continent. It was a place where the strong eat the weak, murder was punishable by a small fine or a few months in prison, even if the deceased was the ruler of the kingdom.
This had led to the popularisation two professions, Assassins and Mercenaries. When you wanted to kill someone but you feared retaliation, you would call on an Assassin to get the job done discreetly and without dirtying your hands. If you feared that your life was in danger, you would hire a mercenary to protect you, or if you had the money, you would employ your own security.
The Capital of the kingdom of shadows was originally named the city of stars because of the beautiful night skies, peppered with thousands of bright stars, without a single cloud in sight. Outsiders had decided that this name was far too good for such a violent city, renaming it to Blood River city instead, believing that anyone who entered this city would eventually have their blood flow into the massive black river that divided the city into two districts.
The two districts of the city were the north and south river banks. The south bank was the slum district, a lawless battle ground, where just surviving was hard work. Hundreds of thousands of badly put together huts were piled together, completely filling the space between the southern river bank and the city walls.
The people of the slums were dirty, clothed in rags and starved to the point where they looked to be nothing more than skin and bones. This was a stark contrast to the northern district, which was full of large luxurious buildings, clean streets and a well-fed populace. Despite the difference in surroundings, the people of both districts had one thing in common, a hardened expression born from pain. Losing loved ones and fighting for your life from the time you were old enough to hold a knife happened on both sides of the river, no matter how rich you were.
The ruler of this blood hungry kingdom was none other than the Night Queen. A woman that many years ago, had led a successful rebellion against the previous royal family alongside Ren's father, William. Now the single most powerful person in the Kingdom of shadows, she found that although she could change the kingdom, she could not change the hearts of the people. The citizens knew nothing but violence their whole lives and that was what they had to teach their children if they wanted them to live long lives.
The Night Queen lived in a huge palace, that overlooked the city. Although it was called a palace it was by no means luxurious and looked closer to a military fortress. It had tall stone walls and countless guard towers, soldiers patrolled the outer perimeter constantly and it would be impossible for even a mouse to enter unnoticed.
Inside the reception room of the so-called palace, was Ren's father William. He was in quite a bad mood these days, despite his best efforts, he still couldn't find Ren. William had guessed that his son was holed up in some remote corner of the forest, searching that huge forest with just the staff at the mansion was a near impossible task.
To add to his problems, Emily had shut herself in her room and refused to come out, As far a she knew, Ren was dead by her own hands and she wasn't exactly taking it well. William wasn't willing to clear up her misunderstanding, if Emily ever found out that Ren was still alive, it would most probably result in another headache for him.
The current situation was getting out of control, he had no choice but to seek help from the ruler of the kingdom, the Night Queen. William wasn't worried about asking her to clean up his own mess, she owed him too much after all.
"Sir Linheart, her majesty will see you now, right this way."
A soldier wearing a full suit of armour called out to William. He got up from his chair and followed the soldier through a set of black doors into a large hall. The interior of the hall was quite simple, making it easy to forget you were in a palace, there was a severe lack of decoration, except for one statue in the centre of the room.
The statue was of a magnificent black panther stepping on a slain bull, this statue may not mean much to outsiders but people of the kingdom knew that the statue was a threat, an example of what it meant to go against the Night Queen.
The panther was the insignia of the Night Queen and the bull was the insignia of the former royal family, the one the Night Queen overthrew with her rebellion. William looked up at the statue and sighed, a complicated expression spread across his face. The soldier did not proceed any further than the door but William didn't seem to mind since he knew the way.
He climbed the stone stairs behind the statue and reached another set of black doors, he stopped in front of them and gave the doors two loud knocks.
"You may enter."
A female voice sounded from the other side of the door, even though the voice was muffled, it was filled with charm and smooth like velvet. William opened the door and entered, closing the aforementioned door behind him.
The room was plain and well kept, following the minimalistic design of the rest of the palace, at the back of the room there was thin purple veil completely concealing the other side of the room. Past the veil, William could see the shadow of an alluring female figure sitting on a throne.
"My dear William, it's been far too long. I've missed you so much it hurts."
The Night Queen said in a soul stealing voice that would have thrown the hearts of any normal man into chaos. The not so normal William remained unfazed and he casually took a seat nearby.
"Greetings my Queen, I am here today to request a favour."
William said plainly, getting straight to the point, he hadn't requested an audience with the Night Queen just to make idle chatter.
"As straightforward as usual I see, this is why you will never find another wife… you might as well give up and just marry me."
She said seductively. William's face remained unchanged but under different circumstances he would have probably facepalmed, this was exactly the reason he had hesitated seeking the Night Queen's aid in the first place.
"I must refuse, I have bigger priorities than getting married."
William replied coldly but there was a slight irritation in his voice, too small for anyone else to notice.
"Consider my heart broken. Those priorities… they wouldn't be about your son, now would they."
The Night Queen asked. William was shocked that she knew so much but then again, the Night Queens information network was second to none. Considering her obsession with him, William wouldn't be surprised if she had planted spies among the mansions staff
"You knew. Well, that makes things simple. I would like to ask for your help in searching for my son. It doesn't matter if he's dead or alive."
William said coldly, what he feared most was giving Ren enough time to realise the kingdom shaking… no, destroying prophecy. This was a matter that had to be settled as soon as possible. Despite William's urgency, The Night Queen fell silent for an unusually long time.
"If that is what you want."
She said somewhat reluctantly, this didn't escape William and he immediately replied.
"It doesn't matter what I want, this is necessary."
William spoke firmly, the safety of the kingdom came before all else, friends, loved ones… Family. The Night Queen fell silent once more.
"I will help you with the search but the truth of the matter stays between us, it will be our little secret."
She said in a sweet voice, William had expected this. Ren's fate concerned the fate of the kingdom after all. If this information was to become public there would be panic among the people.
"I understand, there is still one more thing I need."
William said, although he had taken care of things on Ren's side, there was still the matter of his daughter malfunctioning.
"Is it me."
The night queen said while giggling like a little girl and for the second time today, William wished that he could bury his face into his palm.
"No, I need to borrow the mind-altering crystal."
William said flatly, causing the Night Queen to let out an uncharacteristic gasp.
"That's a big request, there will be trouble if it gets out that I lent it to you."
She said, these crystals were banned by the Avalon Dynasty. Even a ruler of a kingdom such as herself would not escape punishment for using one.
"You owe me at least that much."
William replied as if he was expecting this response. The Night Queen sighed deeply, what William had said was indeed the truth.
"What could you possibly that for need that thing for, it's not really your style to use something like that."
The Night Queen may owe William a great deal but she was still reluctant to just give him what he wanted without knowing his reasoning first.
"What my style is doesn't matter, it's necessary to raise my heir."
He said plainly, causing the Night Queen to shake her head, at the end of the day William acted out of necessity, ignoring his own heart.
"Emily, was it. One day she will be my daughter-in-law, so I can't say I approve."
"Rest assured, that day will never come."
***
The very next day Emily was in her bedroom as had been the norm this past week. The room looked like it had suffered through a natural disaster, the floor was covered in dirty clothes and unknown filth, the small desk looked like it had been carpet bombed with bits of stale food and used plates were stacked high on top of it. The only saving grace was that the curtains had been drawn, plunging the room into darkness and preventing you from getting a good look at the room that looked more like a dump at this point.
The owner of this garbage dump, Emily herself, was in the corner of the room, hugging her knees while cocooned in a thick blanket. If not for the darkness, you would be able to see her dishevelled hair and dark bags under her dull and lifeless eyes but the darkness did nothing to hide the foul body odour that was present in the room, indicating she hadn't bathed herself since starting her full-time residence in her room.
Emily was slowly rocking back and forth endlessly, reflecting her inner hatred that rocked back and forth between her father and herself. Why she hated her father needed no explanation, if it weren't for him, she would still be happily nagging Ren and the warmth in her heart wouldn't have faded but he wasn't the only one at fault here.
She couldn't forgive herself either, the evidence of this was on her wrists in the form of freshly healed scars and the dagger on the floor by her side, its blade covered in dried blood. She picked up the dagger and stared at for a while, the only thing preventing her from graduating self-harm and pursuing the more fatal option, was the hatred she held towards her father.
Emily held the dagger over her wrist, to her this ritual was like a drug, the pain washed away her guilt and in turn the pain in her heart vanished but like a drug, this was only a temporary fix. Once the high faded the guilt would return and with it, the heart-rending pain that kept her up at night.
Since Ren had first started to display his monstrous talents, Emily could not help but feel a dark jealousy towards him. She dismissed these emotions as repulsive, she cast them aside without actually dealing with them. When their mother died, she was the one that stepped forward and made an oath in her heart to take care of him, so to her, those negative emotions were unacceptable.
However, she had no outlet to vent her frustrations and could only keep those emotions locked up behind a warm smile. As Ren's achievements grew so did the pain, that façade of warmth was getting harder to keep up and eventually those emotions would become too much for her and burst forth.
Unfortunately for Emily and her brother, that day was three days after Ren's seventh birthday. She had told herself that she was doing this for Ren, by plunging that dagger into his chest, she had saved him from the suffering that would follow.
That wasn't the truth though, when Emily had learnt what old man Carlo had done, allowing Ren to escape at the cost of his loyalty and life, she knew the real reason behind her actions that fateful day.
Emily closed her eyes and let the dagger fall onto her frail wrist, she took a deep breath to calm her shaky nerves.
CRASH.
A loud noise startled her, causing Emily to open her eyes and drop the dagger in shock. The locked door had been blasted off the hinges and in walked her father followed by two butlers. Williams eyes drifted across the room, falling on to his daughter's scarred wrist. A look of visible disappointment spread across his face.
"Let's just get this over with. Emily what I'm about to do is in your best interest, you can hate me for it… but then again, you won't even remember."
William said coldly. Emily, who was just recovering from her shock saw her father signal the butlers and they instantly appeared by her side, pinning her to the ground.
"What the hell are you doing, get the fuck away from me you sick creeps."
Emily yelled, struggling violently against her aggressors. She flailed her arms frantically but it was no use, the butlers were simply too strong.
William walked closer, taking out a silver helmet that was engraved with mysterious glyphs and was embedded with a small green crystal, that glimmered beautifully despite the darkness of the room.
"Emily, believe me when I say I didn't want to do this… I just have no more time left."
Emily's heart began to pound, despite her best efforts to resist, William placed the helmet on her head. She glared hatefully at her father before feeling a searing pain on her forehead, causing Emily to black out.
***
When Emily woke up, it was night time and she was on her bed. Her room had been cleaned and the door had been fixed.
There was a throbbing pain in the back of her head but it was quickly fading away. She got out of bed and looked at the mirror, her hair was dishevelled but her dull eyes were now full of life but one thing stood out to her, the pink scars that ran across her wrist, ruining her otherwise perfect skin.
"What the hell."
Emily stared at the hideous scars in shock, she had no idea how she had got them but when she tried to remember, a fierce pain racked her head, stopping her from thinking. Emily was even more confused now. She looked back at her reflection and decided to give up, prioritising fixing her messy hair first.
She opened the drawer where she usually kept her comb but instead of the comb, she found a Beautiful silver necklace and a small note that read "Wear this." And had a small arrow pointing towards the necklace.
Now Emily was even more confused, the note was clearly in her handwriting and she didn't remember writing it, the necklace was even more of an enigma, Emily wasn't one to wear jewellery and didn't own a single piece herself.
Nonetheless she picked up the necklace and gave it a better look. It had a thin silver chain and a pendant embedded with a light green crystal, decorated with spiralled cuts, definitely something to flashy for her liking but the note was in her handwriting and a lot of things didn't seem to add up, namely those scars that had seemed to magically appear on her wrist.
Emily delicately placed the necklace around her dainty neck and secured the ends of the chain together with the clasp. As soon as she did this, the green crystal started to vibrate, dimly glowing with an emerald green light. Emily started panicking and quickly went to remove the necklace but before she had the chance, the green gem burst forth with a blinding light, bathing the whole room with green.
"Oh, so that's what happened."
Emily said while sighing, her voice was filled with both grief and pain. Her beautiful scarlet eyes that had just regained their splendour, faded to a dull murky red.
Emily opened the cupboard below the one she had taken the necklace from and dug through the clothing, eventually finding a small black box with a wooden button.
Emily had known her father's intentions from the start. In the morning, around an hour before her father had so rudely erased her memories, she had found a plain parcel under pillow after waking up. When she opened it up, she found that very same necklace as well as an unnamed letter, she briefly skimmed through the contents of the letter but by the time she had reached the end, Emily was carefully going through each word with wide eyes.
"Dear Miss Emily Linheart,
I hope this letter finds you in good health, I am writing to inform you that your father requested a mind-altering crystal from the throne, the crystal can alter your memories and your father plans to use it to erase the memories you have of your brother.
With this letter you should have received a silver necklace, wearing it will allow you to regain any lost memories and can also send one-way transmissions to me in emergencies, it wasn't cheap. I know that you may be sceptical but please understand that I'm someone that cares deeply for both you and your brother.
From someone who cares."
Emily fell silent for a long time after reading this but she had ultimately decided to trust the mysterious helper and with how things turned out she could now say that it was the correct decision.
"It's a shame my brother's already dead."
Emily thought to herself, wondering how her mysterious helper would react when they learned of Ren's death, she had no idea who this person was and what they wanted but if they wanted to help her, she wouldn't refuse them.
Emily held the small black box to her ear, this was a recording device she had planted in her room after reading the letter, she pressed the wooden button and could hear Williams muffled voice from after she had passed out.
"That's one problem sorted, now we can address the more urgent issue at hand, finding my son. His life crystal is still lit, meaning he's alive. He's probably-"
Emily didn't get to hear the rest of what William had to say because she had dropped the recording device in shock.
"He's… alive."
Emily almost couldn't believe the words that came out of her own mouth. It was like lightning had struck, instantly destroying the darkness in her heart for a brief, glorious moment… but the darkness came back, it always did.
However, instead of consuming her like it did previously, Emily used that darkness to break out of the depression she had been surrounding herself with this past week, using it to fuel a determination.
She vowed then and there to find Ren and do everything she could to make it up to him, she also made a separate vow, to make sure their father got what was coming to him. She glanced at the scars on her wrist, she would keep them as a permanent reminder of what she had done to Ren, only healing them when she fulfilled those two oaths.
Emily had gained a purpose and that was reflected in her eyes, a fierce yet firm resolve was on full display.
Her father wanted an heir, so she would give him one. Emily would play the role of the perfect daughter for William, letting him train her however he wanted while pretending to forget about Ren, she would only get stronger. Emily would bide her time until she could properly display to her father the fruits of her training.
For the first time in a week, a grin appeared on Emily's face but it quickly disappeared replaced with a face of disgust as she pinched her nose.
"First I need a bath."