Prologue : Setting the board

Looking at his shaking hands then raising them to the sky, Alaric said to himself "it's a full moon tonight huh" as he can visibly see the huge moon looming over the noisy city, like a sentient being watching from above judging him from what he has done, as the moonlight illuminated his surroundings a red liquid starts dripping to the floor from his palms, Alaric observed how it has accumulated on the floor near his feet, but aside from the pool of blood on the floor there was also a silver object located at the base of his feet, its sharp edge drenched with the same red liquid on the boys palms. while his back is against the closed door to their small 2 bedroom apartment located at the 4th floor of rundown 6 storey apartment complex he let out a sigh of frustration.

"so it has come to this" he muttered

"kill or be killed, why?" he said to himself as he opened the door and observed the sight before him and everything came back, earlier he thought that maybe this was just a dream,

The smell of alcohol reeked as he opened the door , the room was a mess, broken furniture scattered across the floor, and at the centre of the room a bloody lump can be seen, it was a middle aged man at around 35-40 years old, laying flat across his back, visible stab wounds can be seen along the man's chest. around the man, a pool of blood can be seen soaking the rug that had been placed in the centre of the living room.

"At least you did not go down without a fight huh old man, tears flowing down his cheeks" as he caressed his swollen face and bloody lips and spat blood to the floor while grinning. Anyone who would witness the sight will immediately assess that the person who had committed this heinous act is a psychopath, because while standing across the corpse he's seen grinning and muttering inaudible words like a madman would, but why is this person crying, his eyes wide open grinning to the sight but tears keep flowing like there's no tomorrow.

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Alaric was the son of Garent Holzen, He was just a 17 y/o high school student with unkempt black hair and regular looks, medium built but slightly muscular due to all the manual labour he has done while working part time in construction and other petty works. Earlier this afternoon when the bell rung to signify that the day was done, Alaric immediately got up and grabbed his worn out blue bag and directly headed to the school gate.

Regular students opted to proceed to their own club activities after class but unlike normal students Alaric does not have the time or luxury to do any extracurricular activities, he doesn't really have friends to spend loitering around after school hours and it's not like he has the time to spend loitering around as well, sure he sometimes engaged in small talks with some of his classmates, but he can never really call them friends, he was seated at the back of the class at the far right corner next to the window he would sometimes look at the middle of the room during breaks or free period when his classmates would group up and talk about topics that are common to kids his age and would comment to himself how carefree they are.

Alaric was working part time in a convenience store located near his house, and at 10pm in the evening the beeping on his cheap plastic watch would signify the end of his shift. he would usually buy cup ramen and bread to serve as his dinner ( very late dinner) before he would proceed home.

Like any other night once he got home we would be welcomed by the sight of his father drinking leisurely, and like any other night once he got home he would receive endless sermon after sermon about anything that his father can find flaw in him and scold him, being used to the scorn of his father he just let the words pass through his ear and out the other, Alaric proceeded to their small kitchen and heated some water for his ramen. Sitting on a chair by their dining table while waiting for the water to heat up he opened the wrapper for the bread he purchased and started to eat quietly, watching silently towards the television screen that shows horses running across the track. "I guess the old is trying his luck again huh" he thought to himself.

But this night is unlike any other night, his father is more obnoxious than usual, unknown to Alaric today his father was fired because of unruly conduct in his job as a manual labourer in the local pier, once he had drunk the last drop of his favourite whiskey he stood up and proceeded where Alaric was seated and with his drunken stupor demanded for cash to buy some more, usually Alaric would just give his old man extra money that he has earned working at his part time job to put an end to his father's obnoxious behaviour, but tonight he has nothing to give, the next pay was not until the next 2 days.

Alaric calmly answered " dad I think you had enough "

His father's eyes suddenly reacted to what this boy had said. He grabbed Alaric by the throat and said.

"w-what did you say to me boy? feeling high and mighty are we now??"

"Just because you're able to go to that school does not make you a better man! who do you think raised you when that good for nothing whore left huh!?" added his father.

Alaric hated it every time his father brought up his mother. He never really remembered his mother, she was gone before he could even walk properly, every time he asked his father about his mother in the past it would only end up with him having a black eye or a swollen lip , so he learned not to press on the matter, the only thing Alaric was able to get from his father was his mother's name, "Amelia", and the only memory that he could muster about her is the lullaby his mother would usually sing him "hmmm when the world is dark , would you be a knight , a bishop or a rook , or a pawn to bind them, rest your weary soul, worry not bound by oath no piece can harm you hmmm~~" a hymn with chess pieces involved, his mother must be insane he thought, but he had no time to dwell in such memories as his father picks him up holding the collar of his uniform and he mustered the worlds that he thought would be most appropriate.

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"Dad you know if have the means I would give you what spare change I have" Alaric defended

"Shut up! when did you learn to talk back at me boy" retorted the man as he punched Alaric on his face, cutting his lower lip.

Alaric did not react, it was not unusual that sometimes his father would strike him, as he was slumped in the corner beside the chair he was sitting on, he said to himself

"just let it go, he's drunk" he gritted his teeth.

But like what was mentioned, tonight was unlike any other night, tonight his father was more aggressive than usual.

The man picked up Alaric and punched him on the stomach, making the boy gasp in pain.

"You useless piece of shit!" ranted the man.

"Who gave you the roof under your head!"

"If it was not for you! I could have gone and lived my life as I see fit!!" deep frustration can be felt from his father's words.

more punches came, towards his face, on his belly, pain was felt everywhere.

All he could muster is "Dad stop...please.. stop .. dad." again and again he repeated those words.

But the pain did not stop, Alaric saw his father's eyes, the eyes of a madman that has lost his senses.

This is it he thought, I'm gonna be killed. beaten to a pulp, no one would miss him, his classmates, his teachers, the manager of the shop he was working in.. and certainly his father who was currently beating him senseless, no one in the world cares, and no one would definitely notice his absence.

Falling into the abyss accepting punch per punch, something broke within him..

"why?, why?, I have done nothing wrong.. I did what was asked, I did not ask for anything in my life, I accepted the reality that I have no mother, that my father was a drunkard, that nobody likes me in school shunned as an outcast, when I was young I looked at the kids on my neighbourhood playing with wonderful toys while all I have in my arms was an empty milk carton that I have poked holes to signify eyes and mouth of the robot in which I saw in the store when one time dad brought me to buy groceries, not then did I complain when he said that we could not afford to buy ActionBlaster X.. Alaric's life seems to flash before his eyes.. I understood my place in society the bottom of the ladder, did anyone hear me complain? no.. not once did I raise my voice to complain. yes we lived in poverty, but I came to terms with that ever since I was a child. when I'm about 9 y/o I saw my dad crying one night, a glass of liquor in his hand, cursing his predicament being left a single parent, cursing my mother who had suddenly vanished, to raise a child by himself, through the years, even with all the insults, the pain I felt as I received the punches or slaps from this man I called father, I endured it all, he saw the pain his father felt, he could have left, like his mother.. He could have been found in a dumpster somewhere,

but instead his father the drunkard that he was, kept him.. provided a roof above his head, that enough is something to be grateful for.. he is all that I have.... yet.. why... The punches have stopped, and in the midst of the bewilderment his eyes focused on his father's chest, red liquid suddenly oozing out of him and on his hands he held a silver knife deeply embedded on the chest of the man he called dad..

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As Alaric surveyed the scene sirens can be heard nearby, "tsk, aren't they quick"

Alaric knelt beside the man, " I'm sorry dad.. " tears flowing down his cheeks, closing the lids of the half open eyes of the man laying before him.. "let's meet again someday I'll bring your favourite whiskey "... is all he could muster.

He can hear the sirens below the apartment complex.. and voices can be heard climbing the stairs..

Alaric walked towards the door and looked backed one last time, this was place where he had spent most of his life, blissfully examining and taking it all in, one specific spot caught his attention, the corner before his father's room was located, where a couple of scratches with metric measurements was carved, as he recalled those where the lines his father and mother once measured his growth, a wry smile fell upon his face, "I wished I was there at that moment" as he could not remember such memories of happy times.

The good with the worst , he accepted it all , this is was his home there was no denying that, as he walk towards the door,

"well this is it, time to pay the piper"

the knob creaked as he twisted it open.

Then a bright light shunned his eyes, and suddenly an arm grabbed his shoulders, at first he thought it was one of the cops with their highly exaggerated shock and awe tactics he saw much in television and movies.

But as he soon adjusted his eyes to the light, the figure he saw before him is a towering being, clad in full armor.

"whaa-t!?" "who.. what are you doing?!!" he stuttered

The being grabbed him roughly around the collar and announced

"As order of Queen Beatrice Val Brava, you have been identified as a pawn and is requested in her court to swear allegiance."

"A-allegiance?! what are you talking about!?"

And with a flash of light, all that was left was an empty apartment with a corpse in the middle of it.