Sakura woke up in the middle of the night. She was just having a nightmare about her previous life: her parents cursing her for leaving them. Just a little less than a year had passed since she and Hayato had died. They had become accustomed to the language of this new world, all thanks to their language comprehension skill. Thankfully, their new family was nothing less than amazing. Their father Alexander was very kind; their mother Mary was a bit more strict but loving nonetheless. Oddly, the siblings seemed to have been given their old names and appearances—they assumed it was the work of that god.
The next day would be the siblings’ first year in this world. They would celebrate, although it would be a bit sparse due to the family’s financial situation. In this world—which Hayato heard was called “Heminum” (named after the earth god)—you wait to celebrate your birthday twice as long every time; one, two, four, eight, sixteen, and so on.
Hayato awoke in the morning with a jump, as when he opened his eyes his mother was standing over him.
“Happy Birthday Hayato!” she exclaimed. Hayato, taken back, didn’t say anything, as a baby should.
Oh, it's my birthday… I didn’t realize it's already been a year. Well, I’m still a baby, so better not speak, just look happy. Sakura “woke” from all of the commotion (She wasn’t sleeping because of the excitement).
“Oh, look,” Alexander said, “Sakura’s up!” Mary walked over and picked Sakura up, holding her in the air. This scared Sakura a bit; she was small so it looked pretty high up.
“Oh, I’m sorry, dear,” her mother said, “You must be scared of heights.”
“She’s fine,” Alexander said, “She’s my kid after all.” Sakura got put down. She looked over at Hayato and could tell he was holding his laughter back. “Anyway,” Alexander continued, “we’ve got breakfast ready so let’s eat.”
The breakfast was good for their standards: ham, eggs, and bread. Needless to say, they ate their fill. But… it was more of a feast for the parents, as the kids couldn’t eat that kind of food yet. Hayato and Sakura had some baby formula. Not exactly their idea of a birthday meal.
“Ooh, look at this,” Hayato said, in the attic with his sister, “These look like fancy books!” Occasionally he and Sakura would sneak into places they weren’t allowed to try to find interesting stuff. “Oh…” Hayato said, looking in the book. “I forgot I can’t read.”
“We’ll have to change that then,” Sakura responded. “We can't exactly ask mother and father so we’ll learn it ourselves.” She sounded full of determination. But, with no knowledge of a written language, even if you can speak it, it would be impossible to decipher.
“Maybe we can get mother to read us some stories and then memorize them,” Hayato suggested.
“That could work,” Sakura responded, “I’d hate to have to wait until we get actual education.” Hayato shuddered.
“Eugh, school,” he said. “I don’t want to ever go there again.”
“You do know that we will have to go to school eventually right?” Sakura asked.
“Uhh…” her brother responded, “yeah, I guess.” It then dawned on Sakura that they couldn’t just ask Mary to read them a story; they couldn’t talk.
Maybe we can try just pointing and looking excited? Well, it’s worth a try.
Later that night, as Sakura and Hayato were getting ready for bed, Sakura initiated her plan.
“Uagh, Wah,” She exclaimed, “Ah!” She pointed at the bookshelf, trying to look excited.
“Oh,” Alexander chuckled, “I think she wants a bedtime story!” Sakura looked proud and Hayato looked on, admiring her genius.
“Mary, you wouldn’t mind reading them a short book would you?” Alexander continued.
“Of course not, dear,” she responded. She started to read the book, it was called “History of the Land Volume I”. While being read the book, which was an odd choice for a bedtime story, the siblings learned a great many things about this new world.
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“So, Hayato,” Sakura said, making sure no one saw them talking, “do you think we’ve been blessed with any cool Skills?”
“I sure hope so,” Hayato responded, “considering we died to get here.” Hayato and Sakura had learned from the book that here in this world, some people would be blessed with special Skills. It wasn’t that rare, but only a few were gifted with Great Skills. For example: King Calladan had been born with Foresight, a Skill only heard about in legends. Some people, known as The Greats, had been born and made history with Great Skills such as Sword Mastery, Spell God, Subjugation, Demon King, and many more. However, some of these Skills were used for evil instead of good.
The Skill Demon King allowed the bearer to have complete control over Demons—a race that was shunned from society because of their hideous looks and cruel tendencies—along with other great powers. The bearer of that Great Skill eventually was driven mad with the power it granted and abandoned society, taking on the name of his Skill: “Demon King”.
The man with the Great Skill Subjugation was granted the power to control anyone with simple commands. He believed that he could find refuge with the Demon King in the country Illtland (pronounced eelt-land), which was far north, isolated by sea. However, upon arriving, he was murdered by the cruel Demon King. This wouldn’t be so bad, however, when someone kills another with a skill, the killer absorbs that skill, adding to their collection. Because of this, no one in one-thousand years has had the bravery or skill to get to the island and back alive. No one knew if the Demons were still alive, or their king for that matter. They hadn’t interacted with Humans for the last one-thousand years, so it was impossible to know unless someone traveled to the island where they resided and made it back alive.
In this country, it was tradition that when a man or woman came of age—sixteen years old—they would leave home for three years to determine a person’s Skill and to refine it to be useful. If someone didn’t have a Skill, they would train the sword during their stay. Those without Skills were not shunned, due to them being a majority, but they were looked down upon by Skill holders due to their inability to use magical powers.
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Hayato was often bullied in school due to his obsession with video games. Because of this, Hayato had trouble making friends and socializing. Thankfully his sister was willing to help… dissuade his bullies. Being in multiple sports, she was quite fit, and had a nice body. Needless to say, she beat the life out of those people after school. She was very protective of her brother.
Because Hayato was bullied, he withdrew from society even more to absorb himself in video games. He wasn’t bullied online after all. In fact, if his parents didn’t make him, Hayato would have stopped going to school a long time ago. It helped him a bit having his sister there, but she wasn’t always there. He tried to ignore people, but whenever he heard someone laugh, or look at him, he couldn’t help but think they were making fun of him.
There is a common psychological state called Phantom Audience, in which a person thinks that many people are watching or listening to them. Hayato tried to convince himself that that’s all it was; these people didn’t even know who he was. However, no matter how much he tried to ignore it, because he had been bullied before, he just couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being judged.
Much to Hayato’s dismay, he had to go to school once again, although it was only for one year, and quite informal; private schools were a bit above their family’s budget.
The twins were now two years old; time once again to celebrate their birthday. This time however, they could try to talk simply, which they weren’t very good at, but they tried their best. They had mostly deciphered the written language of this country by memorizing books and the sort. This country's language was called Gods’ Tongue, which seemed a bit arrogant, claiming you speak the language of gods, but this was a deeply religious country. Called Illt’en (pronounced eel-ten). A direct translation in Gods’ Tongue would be a contraction of “evil devoid”. Note that all of these translations are Romanized; the actual language is somewhat similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs, but generally indecipherable for foreigners.
In this country, there was little to no religious freedom, if you were found out to follow a religion other than the Holy Gods’ Religion, you would likely be exiled. The Holy Gods’ Religion was a religion that followed a pantheon of gods, all representing different elements or aspects of life. This happens to include the elusive God of Death, whom the siblings had had dealings with before.
“I can’t believe it’s already been two years,” Hayato said. “We’ve come so far.”
“Well, we haven’t really done much except learn a language,” Sakura sighed. “We still have a lot to learn.”
“Whatever,” Hayato sighed. “be proud of yourself for once,” he mumbled. The siblings now had the knowledge to read the books up in the attic. They snuck out of bed at midnight, when they were sure their parents were asleep, and got into the attic. They were careful not to make a sound, as they might risk getting in trouble. Once they got in, Hayato crawled over to the chest full of books. He tried to push it open, but it was too heavy. Sakura came over to help. They pushed and eventually it came open; dust flew, and the siblings were taken aback when it settled. The books were… gone.
“Oh no you don’t,” a raspy voice chuckled from behind. “I can’t have you reading forbidden texts.”
“Who’s there?!” Sakura yelled, “are you that god?”
“Huh?” the voice responded, “No, I’m not a god, but I am a Spirit. A Spirit of Darkness to be precise.”
“What’s that mean?” Hayato asked, getting his breathing back under control.
“Well, I’m basically a ghost of someone who was murdered, who stayed here because I haven’t been put to rest yet.”
“Why are you in our house?” Sakura asked. “I thought Spirits stayed in the house of the person who killed them. Unless…”
“Precisely.” The spirit responded. “I was killed by your father, Alexander. You don’t know his past, do you?”
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“Wait, wait,” Hayato said, feeling left out, “First off, Sakura, You never told me there were spirits.”
“Oh, sorry, I assumed you knew,” She said.
“Second,” Hayato continued, “you said Father killed you? And what did you mean by ‘his past’?”
“Let me tell you a story,” the Spirit responded.
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A thunderstorm was forming in the sky. It was dark and cold outside, and rain was starting to fall.
“S- Sir, I swear I didn’t do anything!” the man said. “I swear on all that’s Holy!”
Someone put a sack over his face.
“I, Alexander the Third, captain of the Order of Knights, sentence you to death,” a man declared, shrouded in shadows.
“No, please!” the man said once again, being bent over. “I didn’t do anyth—” He couldn’t finish his sentence before his head fell to the ground, rolling a few feet.
“Well, that’s all done with,” the executioner said.
“Yes,” Alexander responded. “Put his body with the others.”
“Sir,” the executioner excused himself.
Alexander returned to his room, after cleaning up of course. He stayed in a grand room, provided by the king. Alexander was the captain of the Order of Knights, an order that worked in the shadows of the kingdom. These Knights work directly under the king, they don’t take care of petty crimes, nor do they act as an army to fight other countries, although they may be called to fight. They were the force tasked with disposing of those who have committed high crimes. For example, when a government official commits treason, or takes bribes. The Knights would go behind the scenes and take care of the criminals, giving them an execution befitting of their crime.
“I’m tired of all this killing,” Alexander said to himself, “why not just put them in jail?”
“Sir,” a guard standing in the corner said, “I’m not sure you should be questioning the king. There are severe punishments.”
“Yes, yes,” Alexander muttered, “I know that, I'm just talking to myself.” The guard didn’t say anything. Alexander knew what could happen if someone reported him. Luckily, he trusted his guard; he was chosen by Alexander himself. Alexander took off his armor and hung his sword on the wall.
Why must we go on with this needless killing, he thought, I should tell the king my opinion, he would hear me would he not? I am his most trusted knight.
He decided to put a pause on his idea and go to sleep. The morning came in a flash, and Alexander received instructions for his next target: the Duke of Vorkall, a duchy in the northwest region of Illt’en. He was suspected of treason, selling secrets to a neighboring kingdom. Alexander suited up and prepared himself for what would come next.
The Order of Knights had a very special type of transportation: flying creatures known as Wyverns. They are a type of small dragon that Man had tamed. Many were possessed by the King and were bestowed upon the Knights.
Alexander mounted his Wyvern, it too was suited with armor in case something goes wrong. It leaped off the ledge and soared into the air. It was a somewhat long trip, even by air, the capital was to the south, near the sea.
After about half an hour, Alexander finally landed a safe distance from the village. If he landed too close, the Duke might suspect something and flee. He walked by foot for about half a mile until he encountered the village gate.
“Who are you?” a guard called. “State your reason.”
“I, Alexander the Third, captain of the Order of Knights, am here by order of His Majesty, King Calladan.”
“Oh, I am sorry sir, please enter,” the guard responded.
Alexander proceeded to enter. His body clad in silver armor with gold trim, sword at his hip, drew a great many eyes as he walked. Alexander was a large, muscular man, face scarred, with long, dark hair and beard. His figure was sure to intimidate anyone who crossed his path. He walked down the center of the road, towards the mansion at a fast pace. He reached the Duke’s mansion after about five minutes of walking. He was met with a guard at the entrance.
“What business do you have with lord Sakamoto?” the guard asked.
“I was sent here by His Majesty the King,” Alexander answered. “I have important orders.”
“I see, follow me Sir,” the guard continued, walking through the door. They walked inside, a grand entrance room with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, a large staircase leading to the second floor. The carpet was a light blue, edged with gold.
“I will call for the Lord,” the guard announced. While Alexander was in the main hall, the guard excused himself to announce the visitor’s arrival to the Duke.
“Lord,” the guard bowed his head to him.
“What is it?” the Duke responded, sounding annoyed.
“You have a visitor,” the guard continued. “Sir Alexander, he says he was sent by His Majesty.” Duke Sakamoto looked nervous.
“Y- You mean the captain of the Order of Knights?”
“Yes, my lord, I believe so.”
“Tell him to leave,” Sakamoto ordered.
“I’m afraid I can’t, he says he has word from the king,” the guard responded.
“Then welcome him in, you know what to do.”
“Lord,” the guard excused himself with a bow. Alexander was formulating a plan to be most efficient when dealing with the Duke.
I think it would be best to leave no one, he thought. But if I can avoid it, I’d like to only take care of Sakamoto.
The guard returned from the hallway on the right. Alexander was keenly aware of his surroundings, knowing that there were 4 other guards flanking him on the right and left; two on each side, plus the guard coming from the hall.
“Lord Sakamoto welcomes you,” the guard announced, “please follow me.” The guard led Alexander through the doorway, and it was at that moment that he realized what was happening. It was a trap.
“I apologize,” the guard said, drawing his sword.
“It’s okay, just orders,” Alexander responded. The rest of the guards drew their swords.
“Amplify,” Alexander started.
“Wait!” a guard yelled, “Don’t let him!”
“Speed,” Alexander continued, drawing his sword. “Infinite Blade.”
“Stop him!” that same guard said, charging at him. “He can’t do thi—” His body fell to the ground, now headless. Alexander struck so fast, you couldn't even see his sword swing. The other guards were terrified, but before they could muster their courage, Alexander slashed. The other four guards fell down, not a scratch on them, except one clean cut through their neck, severing their head from their body. They wore chainmail around their necks to prevent this, but Alexander was captain of the Order of Knights for a reason. His skill was called Amplify. It allowed him to amplify a skill for a short duration, be that speed, strength, or sword skill.
Alexander walked past the pools of blood, unfortunately getting some on his boots. He kept walking, no emotion on his face, and came to the Duke’s office.
“Did you get rid of him?” The Duke asked as Alexander walked in.
“No they didn’t,” Alexander answered. Duke Sakamoto looked up, horrified.
“H- H- How did you get p- past my men?!”
“It wasn’t a challenge,” Alexander said, walking forward. “I, Alexander the Third, captain of the Order of Knights, on counts of treason and bribery, sentence you to death.”
Alexander had a nickname: “The King’s Executioner”. This had a double meaning, on one hand, he was the strongest man in the kingdom and was the king’s official executioner, for important issues. On the other hand, he mercilessly killed important officials; counts, dukes, and the like. Maybe someday he would have to kill a king.
Alexander walked out of the mansion with Sakamoto’s head in his hand, holding it by the hair while blood spilled onto the cobble road. No guard had the guts to confront him; no citizen had the courage to look in his eyes or get in his way.
He mounted his Wyvern and took off into the blue sky.
I shall present this to the king, and tell him of my thoughts, Alexander thought, My future is up to his discretion.
He landed on the special ledge meant for Wyverns, and proceeded to the royal chamber. He cleaned the blood off of himself, and made sure to cover Sakamoto’s neck, so as not to sully the royal carpet. Alexander walked into the chamber; a magnificent hall, fifty feet tall, and two-hundred feet long, truly befitting of a king. The carpet leading to the king’s throne was a deep red, with gold patterns on it. At the end of the carpet lies King Calladan, king of Illt’en, sitting upon an amazing throne.
“Your Majesty,” Alexander said, kneeling down
“You may rise.” Calladan said.
“As you wish, my lord,” Alexander rose. “I have completed the task of killing the Duke of Vorkall. I present his head.”
“Very well, my knight,” Calladan praised, “Would you like your next orders?”
“Actually… about that,” Alexander paused, “I have something I’d like to discuss.”
“You may.”
“It’s about all of this killing,” Alexander continued, “don’t you think there’s been enough? Can’t we just imprison them?” A strange look overcame the king’s face.
“Are you… questioning my decisions? Are you suggesting that I, the king of this holy country, may have made a decision that’s not best for my people?”
“N- No, Sir,” Alexander explained, “I only meant to offer a suggestion.”
“Really?” Callahan responded. “It sounds to me like you are questioning me. Do you want to revise your statement?”
“No, your majesty,” Alexander answered. “I stand by it.”
“You understand that we cannot allow liabilities in the Knights,” Callahan continued. “If you keep this up, you will be removed from my service.”
“Your majesty, please hear me out…” Alexander begged. “You have to.”
“When did I appoint you my royal adviser? You will not tell me what I must do.”
“I just mean to help strengthen the kingdom!” Alexander exclaimed.
“This is not the first time this has happened,” the king said. “You always seemed to be wary of my decisions when it came to dealing with criminals. You have gone too far this time.”
“My lord!” Alexander cried. “I do not question you, I only mean to make a suggestion!”
“A suggestion that I take as criticism of my reign,” Callahan said.
“No, your majesty, I don’t mean that—”
“I am saying this as a king, not as a colleague,” Callahan continued. “I have seen the downfall of this kingdom in my foresight. I will not let the future come to fruition. I, Callahan the Great, King of the Holy kingdom of Illt’en, relieve you, Alexander III, of your position as captain of the Order of Knights.”
“N- No… you can’t!” Alexander exclaimed. “Please…”
“I can’t? Are you questioning my authority as king?” Callahan accused. “I will not take this. I order you to retire to the country; peasant territory. I strip you of your title as noble and of your knightly privileges.” Alexander was left feeling defeated. It couldn’t have gone any worse. Now he had no title, no rights, and none of his noble capabilities. All because he couldn’t stomach some killing.
Why? he thought. Why must the gods torture me like this? I guess that’s what you get for being selfish. Although… never mind.
Alexander accepted his fate and turned around and walked out of the court.
“Now,” the king said, “I say this as a colleague. I am sorry to see you go, but we can not permit liabilities in this Holy Court.”
“If you were truly sorry, you would hear me out.” Alexander walked out of the court, wearing that same emotionless face, but now, with a tear running down his cheek.
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“And, there’s the story,” the spirit finished. “I’m Sakamoto if you didn’t figure that out.” Sakura and Hayato were taken aback, still processing the story they’d been told.
“Why would he do that?!” Hayato exclaimed. “All father did was make a small request! There was no need to do that…”
“King Calladan is a fickle man,” Sakamoto responded. “Even if you make a minor criticism, he sees it as an attack on himself; as if you are questioning his reign. Dare I say, he is even insecure. This makes him both perfect, and flawed. He doesn’t allow anyone to question him, making sure his knights are loyal, but he also pushes away those who are only trying to help. Maybe the future he sees is only there because of the actions he takes.”
“Still…” Sakura said, “it’s not fair to father.”
“I agree,” said Sakamoto, “but he killed me so… I don’t really care.” He shrugged. “But, going back to the books, I’ll let you have them on your third birthday, when you turn four. Before you start school.”
“Uh, why can’t we have them now?” Hayato asked.
“Let’s just say that they have some special knowledge in them.” Sakamoto responded. The siblings headed back downstairs, disappointed with the anticlimactic ending. However, they were amazed to hear that their father had once been the strongest fighter in the kingdom. They went back to their room and climbed into their beds.
“Good night Sakura,” Hayato said.
“Good night Hayato,” Sakura said. The siblings, tired from the excitement of the story, went to bed, with a fresh view on their family.