The End of Wind

"To understand the rise of an empire and the man who built it you must understand the empire and emperor before it. The tale of Sol Hidiyan is complicated and complex but begins in conclusion on his homeworld of Hidyan."

- The Eternal Scholar Ranken of the Great house Yudi

"Sol," his mother's voice whispered.

Sol did not stir, he was aware of her, he'd been aware of her since she'd walked into the room. He'd been awake for too long and yet he felt no need to sleep, he was content with the lack of it.

"Sol," his mother called again.

Sol still refused to stir. He knew she was there, yet did not care. If she really wanted his attention she would come and get it from, she had the power to do so and he wanted her to do so. He wanted her to use it on him.

"Sol," his mother said, finally turning him over with her own hand.

Sol turned over. His mother–the lady Juno–had a drop of cold sweat over her face. It was an odd sight, she did not sweat, she could not sweat unless she willed it. What could cause her to lose control of her own body? Her body functioned like a well oiled machine, years of training allowed her to manipulate the very proportions of her body yet she always preferred to leave them within their natural states.

Sol immediately turned over towards the other side of the room but breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Venus safely asleep. She–Sol's sister–engaged within something, she tossed and turned but did not wake. A nightmare Sol decided. They weren't uncommon for her, yet the things made no sense; she spoke to Sol of two tall, well built men, one with midnight black and the other cloud white hair surrounded by an army of six legged monsters clad within black leathery skin. The very next day she would describe to her father an entire collection of detailed trade and finance reports backed up by empirical evidence of tax collection agencies and tariff duties imposed by regulatory bodies. Yet they never caused her distress. This one did though.

"Why does she turn?"

The cold sweat trickled onto Juno's face and down through neck. Juno's throat was tight; she didn't want to tell him the real reason. She wiped the traces off her face and tried to pull together a smile.

Sol got out of bed and stepped over towards Juno.

"Why does she turn?" Sol asked once again.

Juno's throat released.

"One of the Pious is forcing a trial upon her."

Sol scowled and at Juno before slipping a shirt over his skinny body. The Pious were not to be involved with the houses of humanity and yet they did. They came and went, today was just another day, Juno knew this, yet she neglected to tell her son as he finished dressing.

"What is she seeing?" Sol asked, putting his jacket over his shirt.

"Nothing that a child should see," Juno said. "What exactly, is a mystery. I know that they sent me to drown repeatedly till I stopped resisting. Whatever they send is with purpose, with meaning, what meaning is for each individual to know."

"How many times did it take you to learn your lesson."

"What?" Juno asked while fixing the collar of Sol's jacket.

"How many deaths until you understood your message?"

"Two hundred and thirty seven."

"I see, you expect her to survive that many?"

"I expect her to understand the message far sooner than I did."

Sol turned back towards his mother who he stood several inches taller than. "What was the message you were taught?"

Juno stood still for several seconds before ignoring the question and walking towards the edge of the bedroom where a long gown waited for her. As she approached the door it shot open and the cold hall air penetrated the room disrupting the warmth of the roaring fireplace in the corner. 

"The Pious awaits you patiently," Juno said before fixing her hands within the Order's way. Juno's left faced outwards towards Sol over her right which faced inward toward her. Sol had always considered it a strange practice of the Order and her mother, she'd told him it represented both their inward and outward goals. Sol was reluctant to believe such a statement, he knew the Pious weren't an outward looking organisation no matter how much they claimed to be.

"I'd advise you not to keep her waiting, such an action may make the Pious…impatient with you."

"The Pious waits patiently within the halls of my father," Sol said, "a guest respects its host."

"Not this guest." Juno snapped, turning back toward Sol. 

The single drop of sweat had returned and was running across the top of her eyebrow. Sol walked up to Juno and placed his finger upon her brow before wiping the trinket of sweat off her brow. 

"You don't sweat," Sol said, "what terrifies you about the Pious to the point that you lose control of yourself? Not once have I seen this from you."

Juno stepped back and unclasped her hands before putting them upon Sol's shoulders. She stared into the eye's of Sol. A voice appeared within his head. "The Pious does not act with human emotion in mind, they act within the interests of the order at heart," the voice of Juno said. "If they see the need to kill even in the home of their host, they will, I warn you as a mother not as a Pia of what is to come."

Juno broke her eye contact with Sol. The voice echoed and then stopped. Sol starred with an intensity towards Juno, it wasn't the first Juno had invaded the privacy of Sol's mind with her own abilities. It was a terrifying art in which only the order's member's knew, a terrifying art in which Sol's mother knew. Although Sol understood why she'd chosen such an action, they were being listened to, the Pious watched, waited and listened calmly.

Both Sol and Juno walked through the cold hallways with little talk, neither wanted to annoy the other and neither wanted to talk about the situation they were heading into. Sol knew nothing of what awaited him with the Pious, he didn't know whether he was to be taught a 'lesson' like his mother and sister, or killed upon the spot like his mother had warned him of. Sol presumed that it may be a mix of both, a lesson in which is extracted through death, maybe not of him but something else. Death is the greatest teacher after all, only within death do you feel holes in your heart, you feel the emptiness that cannot be filled materially.

Sol and Juno walked up a staircase and were met with the appearance of two figures. Standing in front was the image of a girl the same age as Sol, long black hair and piercing gradient red eyes. Behind the girl was a man of well cut short black hair who stood regally over Sol.

"Doctor Horiyima?" Sol asked, shaking the man's hand.

"I'm not the one doing your checkup today," Doctor Horimiya said, turning towards the girl.

The girl stepped forwards and placed her hand upon Sol's head.

"Suzune will take care of your checkup today Sol," Juno said, "It was a 'request' of the Pious, who claimed she needed 'some practice'."

Suzune closed her eyes and ran through the motions.

"Your body temperature is 37.2 degrees celsius," Suzune said. "Your resting heart rate is 62 beats per minute and you have clear and healthy lungs."

Suzune continued through the assessment Sol looked past her and towards Doctor Horiyima who was speaking through his hands. 'Chortani finger talk' was its common name although Suzune and her father Doctor Horiyima preferred a more formal name for their native form of speaking.

"The witch in there waits you eagerly," he gestured with the bottom of his fingers. Finger talk wasn't a complete language and Sol was only a novice in its arts, many words or motions were lost in translation but enough time steeped in the language and you could infer the swipes, clicks and finger changes to understand what was being said. "She assigned daughter to ensure that you had the least amount of care within a reasonable degree. Your mother argued for my participation, but silenced quickly she was."

Sol nodded towards doctor Horiyima before signalling back to him with an overly expressive response, it was a mistake common to most beginners. "Anything else I must know?"

Doctor Horiyima calmed his finger movements and positioned them into a conductor-like state. "Stay strong, cannot say what awaits you, cannot be anything good."

Suzune opened her eyes and smiled towards Sol before turning towards Juno. "Everything is in order my lady."

Juno nodded. "Thank you good doctors."

The doctor and his daughter left, leaving Juno and Sol alone at the top of the staircase. The hallway in front of them led to the traditional dining hall of the house Hidiyan a large and open space usually sparkling with banquets and broths. 

Juno turned back towards Sol. "My son, you must be strong."

She carefully walked down the hallways towards the door. Sol adjusted his uniform and followed is mother.