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Hello. This is a background story for a character of my comic, which I have been writing for a while now. If for some reason you don't want to read a story with blood and deception, this is a great opportunity to turn back and leave this thread.
The world in my comic is a mix of fantasy and some sci-fi, comparable to Final Fantasy VII world (or so I am told. Really), although it doesn't really matter, as magic has very little place in this particular story. So, sit back and enjoy.
All sorts of comments and critique are welcome. English isn't my native language, so there might be grammatical differences or something downright wrong. Hardest part of writing this was the name, so it isn't anything too fancy.
Also a free cookie for whoever gets the song reference without google ^^
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Everybody stood by the blast door quietly, except for the old man who was still writhing in pain, holding the gaping bullet-wound in his rib. Every second felt like eternity on the round command bridge of the Incendia Ex Deus. Young man with silver hair stood before a control panel - with a knocked down chair next to him - staring at the beautiful blue earth through a wide window, thinking with an enlighted look in his eyes...
"Awaiting your command".
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...Liquid phantom fields of motion - for those who cannot see the future...
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A silhouette of a small person was moving along a road, sun setting in the direction he came from. Only when a landing airship above the city far behind blocked the sun, face of the person was revealed to a gang of three who were apparently waiting for him. He was a bright, young boy with green eyes and brown hair, which he always pulled back even though nobody liked the way it looked. If someone were to ask about it, all he said was "Why, I have to see what I'm doing, right?" - which described him well. He liked to examine everything new, always learned from it and tried his best to use everything he knew. Some would say he was a child prodigy, but he tried to stay modest about it.
"How's the new school, Genie?" Asked a another boy not much older than the first, but eldest of the four never the less. "I hear they have more challenging classes there this time". A girl, probably youngest of the three - with a blonde, long, curly hair - giggled when "Genie" sat down next to them and sighed.
"All the same, and even worse". He seemed to struggle whether to tell the details or not.
"On a scale of..."
"You can't have a negative scale - let's leave it at that... Oh, and stop calling me 'Genie', would you, Drey?" He glared at Drey, but was by no means angry - for some strange reason, these four kids never held grudge and knew each other throughoutly, even though they were no siblings, but mere friends. Drey was a friendly and loyal guy who would always help his friends, no matter what the case. Always with a carefree but confident attitude. And he always had to keep his long dark-brown hair tied back just to see anything...
"I don't know about that", Drey chuckled. "My bike still works like a wish come true".
"Maybe you should wish to become old enough to actually drive it legally", added the third. A graher with all-grey fur pattern, called Everen. The girl giggled a lot at this point. It was Drey's turn to frown, although it didn't last a second.
"Nobody has caught me driving it so far. But allright, I'll stop, Geno". That was the prodigy's name. Geno Adare Nexeferion. Drey looked at his wristwatch. "Oh, I gotta hurry downtown. Need a lift, Senja?" The girl nodded and smiled. Senja didn't talk too often, but when she did, she talked a lot. They both climbed on Drey's rather large motorbike with tires size of a barrel.
"So what are you guys going to do this evening?" Drey asked before ingiting his bike.
Everen shrugged. He was the kind of guy who never really did anything, but was always observative and 'just knew things'. Geno on the other hand always had something to do. "This and that", he answered, but everybody knew he was going to either study or work on some "top-secret" electronical gadgets he kept making.
As different as he was, he was never lonely. If for no-one else, he always had Drey, Everen and Senja.
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...Like masked sands of deception, the wave of the future foundation...
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Geno stood by the door of his house, motionless, staring at the hallway in pure disbelief. He couldn't say a word nor move an inch. His mind was running amok. For his whole life, every time he came home he had been welcomed with smiling faces, laughter, the smell of delicious food and a warm embrace. Now it was cold and quiet. The hallway was covered in crimson puddles and stains. Only thing to welcome him was a beheaded body in the corner, upside down in a very unnatural position.
Geno looked around as if trying to find clues, answers, anything. The once white and clean hallway with fancy paintings and blue carpet was now like out of a nightmare. Twisted. He couldn't stand the sight anymore. He had to carry on. Geno walked into livingroom, only to see another headless body. This time he couldn't bear it and ran to the kitchen to throw up. After that, he sat down on the floor, trying to clear his thoughts, but soon had to walk into his room as the smell of blood constantly disturbed him. This isn't happening were the first sensible words he could think of. This can't be happening. It felt like a bad movie, or a piece of worse literature.
Not even his room was left untouched. A small surveillance drone - a pet project of his - had been cut in half and it's memory card was taken. He closed the door behind him and sat down to his chair - the only thing comfortable and familiar so far. Geno buried his head under his arms and cried. I want to wake up...
Knocking. First Geno wanted to ignore it, but realized that he should get help. Slowly he forced himself up and walked back to the hallway. The last thing he expected to see behind the door was Andal's smiling face, yet there he was as bizarre as the situation was. Andal had worked with Geno's father in a leading science department and later they had set up together a company of their own. "Good day, Geno! May I..." He paused as he noticed Geno's tears and the bloody stains. "My god..! Wha- What happened here!?" Geno fell on his knees again, leaning to the wall so Andal could go in and see for himself.
It was just too much. His vision blurred. He lost strength in his arms and fell on the ground. He could only faintly hear his name being shout before he passed out...
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...Green fields of euphoria. A disfigured replica of paradise...
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So much memories. Geno was sitting on his bed, listening to the sound of indrustial fan above him, staring at the dark-blue walls filled with blueprints and calculations. The only furniture he had was a sturdy steel table with a laptop and a crystal-powered reading light, a simple chair and a bookshelf.
Years had passed since the murder of his parents, which was left unsolved. The murderer had left no traces whatsoever. During that time Geno had changed. He was now 17, living under Andal's (who had became an old man already) custody and working in his company. His once brown hair was now pure white because of the shock he had suffered when he was still young. The weeks in mental hospital were hell, but he had the chance to talk to his friends every once in a while. For the first few times he had only listened as Drey told the latest events, but later Geno gathered the will to talk again. Now he had gained new strength and carried on with his life.
But it wasn't the past that concerned him. It was the present. That day they will launch the last rocket into orbit before he could finish The Incendia Ex Deus - a space station probably only of it's kind. Technology could literally reach new heights and the petty magic, which most of the world still used, could be forgotten. To Geno, magic was the root of all evil. The once great kingdoms had been corrupted and the world was in a state of chaos, a war - all because of greed for power. And as if it wasn't bad enough, a wizard brought all hell on earth by opening a portal between their world, Azugema, and the so-called "Adreal world", bringing forth beasts of unimaginable power and boundless energy. The war turned into survival. Incendia Ex Deus would bring new hope, and purge the Adreal threat from the face of Azugema.
Only moments before, Geno had been in a meeting room discussing about the station with Andal. So far the station had been built by mechanic hands - an army of machines building machines. Only the two of them knew of the station's existance, and they would fly there themselves to finish Geno's life's work. Geno's only request was that he could invite his friends to witness the glorious moment in space. Andal had hesitated, but finally agreed.
"Geno," a feminine voice called him. Geno woke up from his thoughs and looked at a robot which stood by the room's doorway.
"Huh..? Eve, is that you?" Geno asked the robot. Eve was an artificial intelligence unit, which acted as a medium for the machinery, handing out Geno's orders and often offering for an advice, but never acted on it's own. "You're not supposed to be here. Did Andal send you?" He asked.
"No, sir. I came here by my own account, sir." Geno's eyes widened. "Andal has become weak. I came here to ask you of something, but first there is something I believe you must see." The robot handed down something small to Geno.
Geno wondered for a while. Had Eve become self-aware? It was technically impossible, so it must've been a prank by Andal, even though it wasn't his style. And what was that 'weak' crap? Geno looked at what the robot gave him - an old memory card. He looked at the robot, not knowing what to say, but finally inserted the memory card into the laptop on his table. After a few presses of a button the card gave him video feed.
A recording from Geno's old surveillance drone.
Geno stood there quietly for a while, but then turned around to face the robot again. "Where did you.. No. What do you suggest, Eve..?" His face was filled with anger and tears came out of his eyes. "What do you suggest, for that murderer?"
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...A distant enigma light, splintered apart in spatial distortion...
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Everybody stood by the blast door quietly, except for the old man who was still writhing in pain, holding the gaping bullet-wound in his rib. Every second felt like eternity on the round command bridge of the Incendia Ex Deus. Young man with silver hair stood before a control panel - with a knocked down chair next to him - staring at the beautiful blue earth through a wide window, thinking with an enlighted look in his eyes...
"Awaiting your command".
"Yesterday I saw the light and realized what I must do.." Geno turned around slowly, smiling to his friends. "Imagine! All the power we could gain with this technology... To purge Azugema from all evil, burning the corrupted leaders and make the wrongdoers bow before us - the whole world under our care!" Everen and Drey frowned. Senja could not believe what she was hearing and collapsed on her knees, crying.
Drey was about to take a step forward, but the station's computer AI reminded him of it's existence by changing turret's aim to Drey. He stopped, wiping sweat off his forehead. "You idiot! You can't prevent war by bringing forth more war! Open your damn eyes to see what the hell you are doing!" Drey exclaimed in rage.
The joy in Geno's eyes quickly turned into sadness. "This can't be true... Geno, please! Make it stop", Senja cried out to Geno. He took another glance out the window. Sadness faded into anger as he looked down at the control panel. He swallowed while typing new commands into the console. The text was too small for the others to see from so far away, except for a large "warning" -message followed by a beep.
Everybody watched the huge engines of the Incendia Ex Deus turning around on the hologram blueprints of the station. The whole bridge shook as a proof of the machinery moving under them, revealing the coolant pipes and energy wings of the cannon. Andal started laughing, but had to stop to cough and hold his wound. "No.." Senja whispered. Drey held her in his arms, looking at Geno in disbelief. Geno had chosen to fire the cannon...
"...Why aren't the coolant pipes opening?" Everybody looked at Everen for a brief moment before staring at the hologram again. He was right. Wings were fully operational, but the coolant pipes did not open.
"Warning - coolant offline. Energy containment failure in estimated fifteen minutes. Station lockdown active in five minutes".
The blast doors behind them opened. Atmosphere in the room had changed immediately. Andal was paralyzed, but then closed his eyes, not wanting to see his bitter loss. Energy overload would tear the cannon apart before it would be able to fire and leave rest of the station mostly intact, allowing everybody to leave safely. Senja was confused, but after seeing Drey and Everen smile in amazement, she started to realize what was happening and wiped her tears. Geno hadn't moved at all. He was still facing towards the console, emotionless...
Suddenly a small and flat object was ejected from the console, which Geno took and placed in his pocket. "All information stored". The atmosphere changed again, something was wrong. Very wrong. Everen walked closer to ask what was going on, but didn't get the chance to open his mouth.
"Kill them".
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...Shade and shadow, through glory and ecstacy. Erotic sensations arising from the misery of others...
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Geno limped along the cold metal corridors, leaning to the wall with his left hand, panting. With his other hand - with which he also held a pistol - Geno covered his right eye, which Drey had blinded with a dirty trick. Despite his suffering he would not let the rebels get away - his two best friends who had turned against him.
Memories of last few minutes flashed before Senja's eyes, shattered. She couldn't focus anymore. The turret had shot Andal and Everen on the spot, but couldn't change it's aim before Drey had shot the energy-cable, making it leak in the form of a bright flash, which burned Geno's retina. Drey took another shot at Geno's leg to slow him down - to escape from the deathtrap in space. "This can't be happening..!" Senja cried as she and Drey ran towards the shuttle.
The station lockdown was about to take effect: blast doors were slowly closing down. Drey was working on the keypad to get the hatch to shuttle open, when he heard Geno yelling and firing his pistol in the corridors. It didn't matter. The blast doors would be closed for good before Geno could take a clear shot at them, or so he hoped. Second after lockdown, the shuttle hatch finally opened, Drey sighed in relief and wanted to just grab Senja's hand and get the hell out of there. The second he turned around, he saw the horrible truth - she was cold, lifeless. Blood stained her shirt around a burned spot. Drey stood still, denying what he saw. Suddenly escape didn't matter so much anymore...
"You can't escape forever, you rebel! You will burn down with the rest of the evil, hear me!?" Geno's voice echoed through intercom. "Why did you turn your back to me when I needed support the most? I though you were my best friend! This was the chance of a lifetime, you fool..!" He sat down leaning to wall, covering his right eye. Geno shook as he quietly whispered something to himself.
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...Believe what you will, until experience changes your mind...
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The shuttle detached from the Incendia Ex Deus, which became only a shadow of it's name as the cannon crumbled, followed by flashes of light from the unstable energy. The cannon was a small loss, since other parts of the station were still fully operational - an ideal base for an improved, more powerful version of the cannon, which was the intention all along.
Apparently the shuttle was on emergency autopilot, which takes the passengers directly to the nearest point of solid ground on earth. Geno finally allowed himself a slight smile, as they we're directly above northern wastelands and he doubted that Andal would keep something as "ridiculous" as emergency beacon in his shuttles. There was no way Drey could survive.
Geno was sitting next to the control panel again. His right eye was beyond saving, and he would limp for the rest of his life, but it was worth it. Now will begin his true journey, searching for the ultimate weapons to aid him in one final conflict against all the scum that made the world a bad place to live...
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...For the day is not done, and I have miles to go to make them sleep forever...
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