A huge ship with a flag that had a cursive 'F' written on it, dropped its anchor in the waters of Badeus Island. A man in a suit with gelled black hair, examined the happenings in the island, a scowl on the lips.
"Such a disgusting looking island, definitely not fit for a Ferrum," the man said, pushing up his glasses. He turned to one of the four men with him, wearing an identical suit and with scattered black hair. "Denzil, are you sure this is the place?"
"Yes Captain Nintus, our sources claim the prince is here."
Nintus sighed. "What an unfortunate situation?"
"So how do we move?" another one with long blonde hair asked.
"In the name of the Earthians, we as the personal bodyguards of the Ferrum Family will retrieve the prince at all costs, even if we have to use force."
.....
"Sorry about the commotion," Festus said as members of the guild dragged the beat up pirates away.
Paolo smiled. "It's alright." He turned to Octavius. "You're strong."
"As an engineer, I trained my body to lift heavy stuff and since we're always being pestered by pirates, I also learnt some martial arts too."
"You're super cool, you really have to join my crew."
He shook his head. "Although I respect the profession, the life of an adventurer doesn't suit me."
Paolo got in his face, holding his hands between his. "Please consider it, you're not only strong, but you're super dedicated to your work. You have to join."
Octavius frowned and Festus snickered at Paolo's persistence. "You really should Octavius, life on a boat would do you some good. Plus, you can't hide here forever."
Octavius glared at him. "What is that supposed to mean."
Festus waved his hand dismissively. "Anyways, we should go inside. If you're still angry, I could have tea time without you."
Octavius' glare melted away, his bottom lip sticking out. "I-I didn't say I don't want cake."
Festus chuckled, turning his back to walk away. "You are so gullible."
They all followed him to the facilities canteen, a long table sitting in the middle of the room. At the side, stood a fridge and serving tables, only a few people seated to eat.
Festus pointed at the table. "Please have a seat."
They all sat down as he went to the fridge and a coffee table at the corner. A few minutes later, he handed them a slice of strawberry cake and Darjeeling tea.
Octavius licked his lips, digging into the cake with a red tint brushing his cheeks and moaning. "Sweets are king."
"Can we adopt him," Luna asked.
Shinzo sipped his tea, the image of his hurt toe flipping through his mind. "Absolutely not, we don't need more weirdoes. A drunk and a pervert is already stretching it."
"You're no better than us, you greedy cow," Aline snapped.
"There's nothing wrong with loving money," Shinzo defended. "You just don't understand the joys of life."
Octavius watched them bicker, their familiarity slightly refreshing. Festus had his eyes on Octavius, a knowing smile on his lips.
"So Octavius," Paolo called. "How long have you been working here?"
He hummed. "About eleven years, you could call Festus my benefactor. I'm not originally from here, so he helps me out a lot."
Paolo opened his mouth to ask another question, but the door to the building opened, revealing a worker. "Octavius."
Octavius looked up from his cake. "What's up?"
"Some group known as the S5 is looking for you, they keep adding prince to your name and I don't know what to do with them."
His eyes widened, the fork in his hands clattering to the table. "What… did you just say?"
The worker frowned, not very fond of repeating himself, but did so anyways. "A group known as the S5 are looking for you."
Festus rose to his feet, his sons following after him. "Octavius, you sit still. We'll try to send them away. If we don't come back in fifteen minutes, I want you to leave through the back door and get off the island immediately."
Octavius frowned. "But-"
"No buts, your dream depends on what happens today and I don't think you'd like to go back when you aren't even at the halfway point." He turned to Paolo. "I want you to use any means possible to protect Octavius."
Before Octavius could complain, Festus and his sons walked out the door, slamming it behind them.
"Wait, why are the Ferrum Family bodyguards looking for you?" Paolo asked.
Octavius sighed, not seeing the point in hiding his identity. "That's because I'm the only son of the Ferrum family, Prince Octavius of Macano and I ran away from home."
.....
The members of the S5 stared down Fedal family in front of the company gate, the engineers holding their ground at the pressure.
"Where is the prince?" Nintus asked, pushing up his glasses. "We have been informed that the young prince has been working here."
"What prince?" Cecil asked, feigning ignorance at the whole situation.
Peron, the blonde, tilted his head mockingly. "Don't play dumb, we know Prince Octavius is a resident of this town and that he has been working here for the past eleven years."
"Like I said, we don't have any prince," Cecil said. "We only hire engineers."
Nintus sighed, their impertinence not called for. "I hope you know hiding the successor of the Ferrum family will not only garner the wrath of the Ferrum family but the entire Earthian government."
Festus stood tall, maintaining eye level with him. "Be it you or the entire government, we will not let you pass."
.....
"Have you guys ever heard of the Artis division?" Octavius asked.
Luna nodded. "It was a war between the two ruling families, the Fedal and Ferrum family that led to the Artis Clan dividing."
"What was the war about?" Aline asked.
"Natural talent and hard work." Octavius took a bite of his cake. "The Ferrum family believed that with our power of object creation we could bring inventions that could revolutionize the world, but the Fedal family believed in creating things with our own hands. This led to a major war. At the end of the day, the Fedal family and their followers moved over to the East Sea to live on Badeus Island, revoking their association with the Artis Clan."
"That's harsh," Shinzo said.
Octavius sighed. "The Artis Clan no longer exists. The Ferrum family changed the name to the New Artis Clan because of their new way of doing things and head the biggest engineering company in the world, Ferrum Works."
"So why exactly did you run away?" Luna asked.
Octavius frowned, arms crossed. "Eleven years ago, my grandfather helped me come here and hide so I could improve my engineering skills without depending on my creation magic."
.....
A loud explosion in the Ferrum castle had all the maids running to the prince's room, smoke filtering out the door. "Prince Octavius are you alright?"
The young boy covered in soot wrinkled his nose. "I was building a toy robot but the wires caused an explosion."
Lorraine, the head maid and black hair pinned neatly to her head, sighed heavily. "Your highness, you need to be careful. You could just summon it."
"No," Octavius snapped. "If I can't make it with my own hands, what's the point?"
"Still be careful, you know your father doesn't like it when you do this."
Octavius frowned. "Why can't it be like the old days when people actually worked to create something?"
"Times have changed your highness. The Ferrum Family is so high up because of the talent granted to them, that's why they have been granted the esteem title of Earthian Noble."
"But we can only get true fulfilment when we work hard to achieve what we want. Hard work is king. That's why I'll become the greatest engineer with my own hands."
Lorraine sighed. "Your grandfather is really sticking these things into your head. I'm afraid you'd do something crazy."
"Speaking of grandpa, take me to Ferrum Works to see him."
The maid rolled her eyes. "Yes your highness."
The two left the castle, people bowing to Octavius as he walk past them on the busy streets.
"Do they always have to bow?" he mumbled.
"Of course, you are a member of the esteemed Ferrum family. We are one of the five Earthian Nobles, carry your pride on your chest."
"Yeah, yeah."
They stopped at a huge towering building, Ferrum Works written above it. Behind the buildings, numerous factories could be seen. The guards bowed as he walked past, pushing through the workers until he got to a double wooden door with gold rails
Octavius pushed the door open, stepping into the room. "Grandpa Lucius, I'm here."
Lucius Ferrum, an old man in his late fifties looked up from his drawing board, pushing up his big round glasses. "Ah, Octavius you're here. Show it to me."
Octavius nodded, pulling out the robot and a small robotic bird he had been making from his pocket. "The robot wasn't working out well, but the tracking bird is done." He pulled out a small pin from his pocket with a little red dot in the middle. "You put up this pin and the bird can track you anywhere in the world."
He smiled, ruffling Octavius' hair. "That's fantastic, it looks even better in person."
"I didn't know you were making something like that Prince Octavius," Lorraine said.
Octavius smiled at her. "Well I'll be doing a whole lot more, this isn't my stopping point." He clicked the button on top of the bird, its wings creaking as it rose into the sky. They stared at it in awe, their awe melting away into panic as the little bird exploded.
Lucius chuckled lightly. "Seems there's more work to be done."
Octavius sighed. "What a pain?"
"Don't give up, our job as engineers is to solve the problems in the world with our technology. That was always my standard when I took over Ferrum Works and that's what I'll believe even now that I've retired as the head." He reached out and pat Octavius' head. "Become a good engineer, Octavius."
Octavius nodded. "I'll show it to dad and prove hard work is the way to go." Octavius smiled at his clenched hands. "With these hand, I will become the greatest engineer."
The old man smiled. "I'm rooting for you."
That night, Octavius sat in his secret workshop, located behind his bookshelf, touching up his bird. He mumbled possibilities of how to make it better, his mind conjuring up different ideas.
"P-Prince Octavius
Octavius rolled his chair backwards in reaction to Lorraine's voice, pressing a button that moved the shelves apart. As he pulled it aside, his eyes widened at his father's presence.
Julius Ferrum stared down his son, his green eyes burning into his skin. "Octavius, what is this?"
His eyes landed on a guilty Lorraine at the door, her face turning to the right once he landed on her, biting her bottom lip.
"Tell me Octavius," his father seethed when Octavius stayed quiet. "What is this?"
Octavius tried to stand his ground, but his father's heavy presence didn't make it easy for him. His hands shook under the pressure, wetting his lips. "I-I was just… this is my workshop… and I…" he gulped. "I make things here."
The room turned cold, a small aura emitting from the kings body. Lorraine and Octavius coughed, falling to their knees. "Octavius, you are the heir to the Ferrum family blessed with the power to create, so what exactly do you think you're doing."
Octavius' eyes widened as his father turned over his shelf of contraptions in the little room. All the things he had made over the years, toppled down and smashed into pieces.
"Stop it," Octavius whispered, tears stinging in his eyes. "Please."
Julius picked up the tracking bird, crushing it his hands. As they crumbled, so did Octavius. Not just his heart, but his tolerance to.
"I really hate you," Octavius mumbled, glaring at his father through his tears. "I'll come back one day and I'll show you."
Julius looked down at his son, not a hint of warmness in his expression. "Is that so, well I can't wait to see you fail and come back crying to me."
"I'll never yield to your stupid beliefs. I'll become a great engineer without the Ferrum name."
Julius scoffed. "Do what you want, but the Ferrum name is in your blood and you can't escape it."
The king walked away, leaving Octavius weeping on the floor.
"Prince Octavius I'm-"
"Don't talk to me," Octavius screamed, cleaning his tears that just wouldn't stop. "God I hate this so much."
Lorraine flinched, her hands about to touch his shoulder hovering in the air aimlessly. "I'm really sorry."
She walked away, head hung low. He gathered the broken pieces of his inventions and held them close to his chest, mourning all his hard work. With vengeance in his heart, his dedication to his dream increased and he vowed to himself that he would reach his goal no matter what.
.....
"After that, I went to my grandfather to ask to leave and he told me about the Fedal family, and because I respected them I asked him to introduce me. With hard work and perseverance, I was able to increase my skills as an engineer under the Fedal family, learn five martial art forms and train my body to carry heavy things."
"Do you regret running away?" Luna asked.
He shook his head with a smile. "Never…" he held up his hands "…because with these hands and these hand alone I will achieve my dream."
Paolo who had been quiet, grinned. "I am even more motivated to have you on my crew." He held the engineer's shoulders, his brown eyes glinting dangerously. "Let's make a deal Octavius."
.....
Elan, one of the S5 stepped on Festus' bruised and battered body. Festus coughed, blood dripping from his lips as his foot landed heavily on his body. "You idiots really thought you could hurt us."
Nintus stepped forward to head into the factory, but a hand grabbed his foot.
"I won't allow you."
Nintus' green eyes landed on Festus. "So you are still breathing. Such an annoying old man."
His foot moved in to kick Festus, but a small foot stretched out and kicked him backwards. The S5 stared stunned as Octavius stood in front of his beat up Fedal family with Paolo, Aline, Luna and Shinzo pulling up behind him.
Octavius glared at them, his eyes glowing brilliant blue. "Touch him again and you die."