[NaNoWriMo] The Conflict's Refrain - A Working Title

[The ⑨th Zentillion]

The death of the King of Corzolia has proven detrimental to the peacefulness on Earth as his wife and son have forsaken the Pantheon of the Gods to further an agenda of vengeance.

This tale joins six people around the world in going after the kingdom-turned-empire, some with the support of parts of the Pantheon and some without. These six will discover just what is truly going on, and they will discover a hard truth: Nothing is ever what it seems.

The Conflict?s Refrain - A Working Title

by

Jason Winter

Prologue - The Pantheon

Our tale begins on a world, that for the sake of simplicity, and practical purposes, will be called ?Earth.? To say it?s not unlike the Earth we all know and love is a bold-faced lie, but to say it is exactly the same is just as much of a falsehood. The polar icecaps, general temperature, and wildlife; well, most of the wildlife is pretty much the same.

There are plenty of differences, though: Biomes, continents, people, cultures, and in fact, the number of intelligent life forms with some sort of civilization; all of those are different. There?s no argument over the existence of deities, for example: They show themselves often enough so there?s no way to disbelieve it, although some are forgotten and/or overshadowed by others.

To say that this stops conflict of the religious sort is false, some of them are petty and cruel beings who enjoy making the mortals suffer for their own amusement or benefit. Which, in turn, caused people to fight others in the name of their Gods, no matter their intent or alignment. However, it?s been some time since that has really been of any concern, most of the ?evil? gods are the ones in that ?forgotten and/or overshadowed? category, mostly for the better.

There are old grudges and in-fighting thanks to this, of course, but this is the status quo for any imperfect, mortal being; and well, the Gods, too. Deities being perfect? On this Earth, that?s pretty hilarious. Remember, this isn?t our Earth, and even then a perfect deity is the cause of many a debate.

So, if multiple Gods of differing qualities exist in this world, does magic? You bet! And that ?most? bit about the wildlife? Yeah, there are dragons, normal fauna in unusual sizes and looks, and other creatures that are pure fantasy, legend, speculation, extinct, or of crypto-zoological origin on this world.  Magic is linked to certain deities, as are some of the more fantastic of these creatures - many even coinciding with each other.

So, who are the current dominant gods? As many people would advise for good writing, the author should show, rather than tell people about things; but since we?ve already exposited details about the world itself already, it won?t hurt to be a little bare-bones on the subject, right? Heck, we haven?t even gotten to the technological level of this world, yet! That will be shown, rather than told, though.

I suppose that, first off, will be the most important one of them all: The genderless being called Orentius, also known as ?They?, ?The Original One?, ?The Clean Slate?, or ?The Great Parent?. Some people call Them ?The Blank?, ?Heshe?, ?Nil One?, or just ?It?, but those are rarely used and are somewhat more considered to be pejorative and/or dismissive. Orentius is believed to have created the universe and the stars, as well as Their two Children, from parts of Their body. No mere mortal has actually seen Orentius in person and lived through it without revival, though: it takes certain magical wards only the powerful can create to see Them without dying from incomprehension. Enough mere mortals have ?seen? Orentius, though, to know They are real.

Secondly is Detredes, the son of Orentius, and the owner of the star ?Sol,? given to Him by The Original One as a birthday gift at the time of  His creation. His ownership of it, essentially, makes Detredes the Sun God. Detredes is also the patron God of Life, being the one who brought life forms to Earth in the first place. He, however, only brought plants and basic life to the planet;
civilized, intelligent life is the domain of his daughter, Pasi, and Her children. Detredes is nicknamed  ?Sol?, ?Sunfather,? and ?Daybringer.?

The daughter of Orentius is Terratha, the creator of Earth itself. In conjunction with its creation, she allowed her brother to bring it its first signs of life after her firstborn son, Piexus, created the oceans. Her other children, Freh, Wrest, and Luna would go on to create fire, the weather, and the moon, respectively. Most people simply call Terratha ?Terra? or ?Earthmother?.

The aforementioned Pasi had several children, each one charged with a different aspect of civilized life: Knowledge and wisdom were made the domains of her firstborn daughter Halle, while technology and love went to her other daughter, Marda. Her son, whose name has been forgotten, was put in charge of the life cycle and souls. Unfortunately, he was born  ambitious but not sympathetic, which eventually caused Him to fall from grace when he tried to incite conflict within the pantheon. His genderless offspring, Dessardus, took over after His expulsion, and kept it thanks to a rather affable personality. Most people just call Dessardus ?Death?, now, which is a slight corruption of a shortening of Their name, ?Dess.?

Pasi?s forgotten son was joined by a daughter of Freh?s as well as all of Piexus? children, almost all of their names forgotten except one - Galrus, who later changed His mind and apparently informed the other gods of what was happening. Galrus would eventually bear a child with Halle - Kraguen, who would become the first Merman. The forgotten son of Pasi and forgotten daughter of Freh created the Dark Ones - their true names also forgotten: powerful, single-minded beings with only destruction in mind.

The creation of Pasi - Humanity, alongside the children of her great-nephew fought the Dark Ones in an enormous conflict, known as the War of Nightfall. Unfortunately for the Humans and the Merfolk, their combined efforts were not enough. Thanks to a plea to his great-grandmother, however, Galrus got some help - in the form of Luna?s own civilization - the Elvenathor, the first mortal practitioners of magic. The War of Nightfall was turned around and the Dark Ones were mostly vanquished. Those who remained were sealed in a realm of pure light, a world, that for them, was naught but pain.

Despite their victory, there would be much in-fighting between the three races in later years, sometimes over the Gods, sometimes over territories, and sometimes, just for petty reasons like greed and megalomania. Eventually, though, a long-lived peaceful time period was worked out. That time period would eventually come to its end, though.

That was fifteen years ago, when our story truly began. Mizael XXVI, The King of Carzol, which is the largest human territory fell ill shortly after his Queen had their first child, Quinn IV. King Mizael died not long after his illness had started. The kingdom, of course, was turned over to the Queen as Prince Quinn was too young. But as soon as she took the throne, the world would discover just how much of a tyrant she really was. Most blamed it on her being impacted by her husband?s death, but there were also hushed whispers of her having poisoned the King. Those hushed whispers were put to rest after a while - and not by force, but by the Queen allowing an investigation by outside, independent sources. Those sources proved that it had not been poison, or magic that had killed him, just bad luck with ol? Dessardus.

Death, however, claimed that the King?s death was not Their doing, and had no idea how the King was brought to Their domain at such a time. The Carzolians, with the Queen?s help, put the blame in Their direction anyway. Death promised to get to the bottom of it, but found Themself clueless, which, naturally, upped the kingdom?s ire when no response came. Those who didn?t blame Dessardus were all considered the enemy, and that included anyone worldwide - human, elf, mer, or otherwise.

The other gods, concerned for both sides, began taking their own positions. Infighting between celestial sibling and offspring occurred, in ways that had not been seen since the treachery of Death?s father. Eventually, Detredes and His children joined their relative, while most of Terratha?s offspring sided with the kingdom except for Luna and Terratha Herself. Because of Piexus? support, the Merfolk eventually took the Carzolians? side. The elves and most of the rest of humanity went against them.

A war began, and has been going for a little over a decade now. Queen Izzaela has been joined by her son, Quinn now in her efforts, his unquestionable and disturbing loyalty to his mother has proven a real asset to the Carzolian Kingdom, well, Empire now. But not all Carzolians are loyal to the Imperial movement...

Which, is where we join our first person of interest.

[The ⑨th Zentillion]

Chapter 1: In Rune?s Case I

Pulling a bag of  chips out of the dispenser of a vending machine, a young man pushes himself back up and tears open the bag, procuring a couple of delicious crunchy, cheesy, salty sticks from its confines. The powdered cheese already begins to stain his fingers before he devours them. A few crunches and a gulp later, he prepares to dip his fingers into the bag again, only to be interrupted by music coming out of his coat pocket. He quickly sucks the cheese off of his fingers - no need to get things dirty - and pulls a black flip-top cellular phone from his pocket, phone continuing to ring as he pops it open, puts it to his ear, and replies.

?Yeah?? he asks, voice high but masculine.

?How?s the surveillance going? Has the Golden Goose shown up with the Egg?? asks an older woman?s voice on the other side of the line, in an insistent, questioning manner ?This is the usual time they show up.?

?No Ma?am, no sign of Quinn or his goon squad yet,? he replies with a sigh, oh so tempted to dig into that bag again; but if his mother finds out he?s snacking on the job, well, he doesn?t want to deal with that. He?s grateful enough she?s even allowed him to join in her efforts to stop their Empress? war machine, considering he?s only a little older than the Prince himself ?I?ll call and let you know when it happens, mo-- er, Ma?am.?

?Almost about to call me ?mom? while you?re on-duty again, Rune?? the woman asks, though her question is amused, rather than angry.

?It just takes some getting used to, Ma?am,? Rune responds, chuckling a little at the amused tone in his mother?s voice. He was getting better at not doing it, though; in fact, this had been the first time he?d done it in almost a week. New record! ?Anyway, I should get back to... Oh, wait, never mind.?

It was just then that the doors open, and a fifteen year old boy in an elaborate green and silver outfit enters the lobby, surrounded by an entourage of men in black suits and green ties, green handkerchiefs in their pockets, six of them, including the kid, in all. In the hands of one of the bodyguards, the biggest one; is a box, sealed and reinforced in several ways. Rune watches intently, saying one last thing into the phone before hanging up ?We?re going to eat well tonight. I?ll bring something very delicious for you, ma.?

?So he?s here, then?? his mother asks, smiling on her end ?Tell me when, I?ll prepare the, ah, welcoming committee. Good luck.?

She hangs up and he re-pockets the phone, and goes back to snacking on his crunchy cheese chips, playing everything nice and cool. Just had to look like a normal person doing a mundane thing for completely mundane reasons while watching his quarry. His green eyes say locked onto the Prince and his entourage as they walk into the lobby and eventually right past him. There are some glances at him, but their inaction shows that they more than likely don?t see him as a threat or a concern.

This target is not Prince Quinn, anyway, it?s that reinforced box that bodyguard has. Within it is a certain piece of evidence the Rebellion want to get their hands on that they hope will expose the Empress and the ?independent? investigation of her husband?s death as a fraud.

The bodyguard with the box is flanked by two of the other guards, the Prince getting behind him while the other guards round out the back. A quick hit of the ?up? button for the elevator by one of the men in front, and the device descends down the shaft to floor level, the doors opening with a ?ding? and the imperials push their way inside.

Picking up his phone again, staining a little bit of it with cheese and then cursing under his breath when he notices, Rune sends his mother a simple text message: Go time.

He heads over to the elevator, wiping his hand off on his jacket, not willing to waste any more time. Putting his hand over the control panel, he concentrates, asking muttered blessings from the storm god, Wrest. His hand suddenly flares up with an electrical current, which shoots into the control panel and stops the elevator on the fifth floor, just as planned. A rather scraggly-looking and dressed in a similar fashion older man comes down the stairs and nods to him, stepping aside and allows the boy past before taking to standing guard in that spot.

?What just happened?!? Quinn snarls as the elevator screeches to a halt, causing him and his men to slightly jerk about.

?The elevator seems to have stopped functioning, Your Highness,? is the box holder?s reply as he mashes the buttons, trying to get the elevator to work.

?Well, of course it seems to have stopped functioning, you peon!? the raven haired young man snarls, his crimson eyes narrowing at his bodyguard as he glares in his direction. The Prince pushes him aside and presses the call button, and yells into it ?This is Prince Quinn the Fourth! The elevator we?re on has gotten stuck! Get it working again. NOW! Because if you don?t, my mother will have your guts for garters.?

?We?re working on it now, sir,? a voice says from the other end ?We?ll have the door open in just a moment.?

?Good,? Quinn mutters, lowering his head and giving the elevator door a swift kick. The door dings and then opens just as he does that ?For the love of Marda, what a piece of... junk??

The floor they?re on is empty, and not only that, it?s the floor below their destination. More curses from the Prince as he sends his guards out the door ahead of him. He sees there?s something up with all of this, one would think there would be at least one worker going down the hall or wandering in an office, but all of the shutters are pulled down in all of them, making things look like a ghost town.

The elevator shuts behind them suddenly and goes back down, and then the whole thing stops functioning once more. One of the other guards tries messing with it, only to find himself suddenly frozen in place, in quite the literal sense, now suddenly encased in a pillar of ice. The Prince and his men are all put on alert at that, each one taking a new stance that seems poised to strike.

Quinn pulls a rectangular metal bar from the lower back end of the coat of his outfit and snaps his hand forward, a blade made out of multiple segments popping out of it, transforming it into an interesting looking sword, while his unfrozen guards procure handguns, although of a different sort than what we?re used to: they look more like the bottom of one, with the handle and trigger, but attached to a dimly glowing unit while an attached long metal protrusion sticks forward like a barrel would on ours.

From the originating direction of that freezing spell stands a bearded man in a brown jacket of a similar design to the other two rebels?. He smirks at the Prince, blue eyes just barely visible over the dark lensed glasses he wears. A similar weapon to the guards? guns is in his hands, although it?s bigger than theirs; a rifle instead of a handgun, in fact. Its unit glows blue as a little bit of mist puffs from the end of the protruding shaft, the glow calming down as the mist vanishes.

?Hello, Your Highness, it?s been a while!? the man says, voice booming as he speaks. For those who know him or at least know of him, it?s rather common knowledge that he has no indoor voice at all, much to the chagrin of his employer ?You?ve got something Ms. Belric wants, little Quinn.?

?Tch, if it isn?t Gelroade,? the Prince replies in a dismissive manner before taking on a more irritated, and perhaps even angered tone ?And I am NOT ?LITTLE?! For Pasi?s sake, I?m almost as tall as you, you old goat!?

?And I?M not ?old,? young Prince, I?m only in my forties!? Gelroade booms back. He lets out a boisterous laugh as several other people, including Rune flank around him. Each one wears that same coat, although it?s not in the same exact color for everyone ?So, we?ll be taking that box from you, if you don?t mind!?

?You know very well that I do mind!? Quinn snaps back, before pointing at Gelroade and his crew ?Go! Kill them if you absolutely have to, but don?t, under any circumstances, allow these terrorists to get what they want!?

The goon holding the box guards his master while the other ones rush forward at Gelroade and the others. The man with zero indoor voice, rather than pointing his rifle at the oncoming entourage, aims it for the floor and opens fire, the floor becoming coated in a slippery sheet of ice. One of the guards slips on it, falls on his ass and crashes into a water cooler and lays on his back, twitching before finally going slack, literally out cold.

The other guards manage to just barely stop before they can slip as well, the woman in their ranks calling out an incantation calling upon Freh?s power, the room heating up and melting the ice back into water. Gelroade?s eyes widen and he quickly gives the side of his rifle a good whack, creating a temporary sheet of ice to appear in front of him and the rest of the rebels, and for a good reason: The air in the hallway turns red and then catches fire with a loud crackle, evaporating the water on the floor and melting the ice barrier; if Gelroade hadn?t put it up, he and his crew would have been baked, and not in the good sort of way.

One guard opens fire on Rune, causing the young man to attempt to dodge to the side as an arc of electricity bursts from the gun, but is hit instead. It hurts, it really does, but he?s quick to turn it around, taking the electric charge into his hands, and merge it with his own. It seems to vanish after a motion of his hands, but it soon comes back in the form of a lightning bolt that blasts the guard who had shot some of it in the first place, and another that plows into the fire caster.

?Samantha! Cross!? snarls one of the other guards as two more of their comrades are taken out, leaving just him, another guard, the box holder, and the Prince left. He holsters his gun and the other guard backs off when he sees it, and does so quickly, knowing just what his friend is capable of. His body twitches as his shadow suddenly grows larger, soon flaring out into a circle of flowing darkness under his feet.

?Damn it, they have someone who knows Luna?s magic with them!!!? Gelroade shouts, signaling for the other rebels to scatter just as the shadow under the guard slithers forward, separating into several tendrils of darkness. He opens fire on the caster, but part of their shadow spikes upwards and takes the brunt of the shot. It gets caught in a frozen pillar, but its nature allows it to simply dissipate and the pillar to uselessly shatter in the floor. He can?t fire again as the shadow tendril grabs hold of his rifle and uses it to throw Gelroade into one of the offices... after smashing through the window.

?Sir!? one of the rebel women - one with red hair, shouts, just before her leg is grabbed by another shadowy tendril which prepares to toss her across the hall. It diesn?t get the chance as it is sliced through by the other girl with this particular rebel squad - a blonde, who has a sword rather than a gun, much like Prince Quinn, only it?s solid and less advanced.

?Grr! Take this!? the shadow user shouts as he sends several tendrils towards the two, these wrought to stab rather than to grab. The blonde, however, concentrates heavily, the blade of her weapon beginning to glow before she swings it once through the air, causing several whirling blades of pure wind blasting forward, which slice through all of the tendrils and then hit their summoner. The guard blinks a few times, looking at the girl, and then groans as he suddenly finds himself in several pieces and very, very dead.

The next-to-last guard looks at his comrade?s diced up body and grows pale. There?s no way the other guard?s coming back from that. He runs over to the other remaining guard, the Prince, and the box in their possession.

?That had to have hurt,? groans a voice alongside the sound of a door opening, Gelroade coming out of the office he was thrown into as he picks a couple shards of glass out of his skin, freezing each wound to stop the bleeding ?I know what just happened to me did!?

?Filthy terrorist scoundrel,? Quinn snarls as he pushes his two guards away from him, a white knuckled grip on his sword as he holds it ?And that was a really, really nice demonstration of the Dozen Blades technique, too. Miss.?

?J-just learned it a few days ago,? she replied, not sure if the Prince was complementing her or not. More likely the latter, she thinks.

?Heh heh. Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha. ?A few days ago,? you say??

?What?s so funny about that?? our green eyed, electricity using rebel mutters, mostly to himself. Unfortunately for him, the Carzolian Prince just barely manages to hear it.

?It?s funny because,? a beat.

?Because??

?I learned it when I was ten!!!? Quinn boasts as he suddenly blurs forward, getting in the young woman?s face in an instant, and swings his sword downwards,  a loud clang sounding as it clashes with the blonde?s own sword, which she just barely in time jerks upwards to prevent from being vertically bisected. The boys face falls, it had been a mistake to make a snarky comment like that. The Prince was going to attack anyway, but Rune can?t help but blame himself.

The other rebels point their guns at Quinn now, Gelroade quick to speak ?We have our weapons trained on you, Your Highness. Unless you wish to be struck with several sorts of magic bolts, we suggest backing off of the girl.?

?Fine,? the Corzolian Prince snarls, stopping the pressure and walking backwards to his remaining guards ?I?m going to guess you?re not going to let us go unless we give you the box, right??

?That?s correct!?

?Well then, here. Have the box,? Quinn says, taking it from his guard. As his back is turned, he gives a quick knowing smile to the remainder of his entourage. All of a sudden after that, he tosses the box into the air at Gelroade, and then blurs forward at the sword wielding girl again, but then blurs out again. Next thing everyone knows, he?s right next to Rune, and slashes him straight across the chest, the boy shouting in pain as he falls to the floor. The armor under his jacket prevents him from being cleaved in twain, but the Prince?s blade, with the power he put behind his strike is able to cut right through the metal ?Plus this fantastic parting gift!?

?You little bastard!? bellows Gelroade, who has the box tucked under his arm as he opens fire with his rifle. Too late, however, as that guard who had fallen back hits a device around his wrist, causing the three Imperials to teleport out of the building ?Damn it! Get Thompson up here, he?s the only one of us with healing magic! Kid! Hang on, bud, you?re going to be fine, just hang on!?

?Me and... my big mouth,? Rune replies as he tries to do just that. But by the time the rebels? scraggly healer gets up there, the boy with green eyes falls unconscious.