The Serpentine's Revenge

Chapter Four

This is my world. A dark and cruel one, in fact. You have a choice in this twisted world; that is to either become the hunter, or the hunted. It’s true that the world was never really safe. Our parents persuaded us that it was, and their parents before them. But now, safety has never been harder to get. There was no reason for conflict.

Many years ago, there was a man of power, who craved attention. He needed everyone looking at him, staring at him, talking about him. Without it, he felt empty, a loser, as if no one wanted him. Soon, he just wasn’t talked about anymore. No one cared what he ate three hours ago, no one wanted to even hear about him. He found only one way to get the attention he was addicted to. He sent seven bombs to every other country in the world. He began the War from Hell.

There were endless slaughter of leaders, and imprisonment of men, women and children. There was no more peace. There were only pieces of a world people used to love. Governments collapsed, and rebellions rose.

The earth became divided. Nine empires were built over the destruction; Rubina, Vermillia, Ambrelerod, Prelipsy, Azuria, Violantia, Chestill, Emerasia, and Arshin.

Azuria was the most controlled. Everyone was divided into classes, depending on their wealth. First Class were the richest. Always the ones to throw lavish parties, and live in expensive, and somewhat unnecessary homes. Second Class, had less wealth, but still lived a comfortable life. Third Class was the poorest. They lived in disgusting homes, filled with disease and sickness. Finally, the Outcasts were never in a village, they were be sent out to live in the fields, forests and meadows. Away from everyone else.

I was a Outcast. I grew up in the ancient village of Plurium, a place full of mysteries and questions. The mysteries and questions that no one asked. Why? They were afraid of Crimson, our king. He sees everything, even your opinions. No one knows how, but they believed. No one ever said anything against him. Death would be the penalty. Fear is a very powerful thing. However, Crimson may have had armadas, or armies, but none of it would’ve mattered. He didn’t have the people.

He wanted to make us strong. But he was the reason we were falling apart. Fear warped minds, making them do what they thought was right. When it really wasn’t.

Crimson’s reign was happy and well, until Queen Katherina became very ill. There was supposedly no cure, said every doctor that went to see her. Crimson set out a handsome reward if anyone could find someone who could save her life. A man of magik, a warlock, came to the king, declaring he could save Crimson’s wife. But when he tried to use his magik to heal her, she stopped breathing.

The warlock was killed that evening. Magik was outlawed. But, of course, the people wanted a queen again. So, Crimson remarried to a First Class Lady. Her name was Allura Dariana Merah.

The wedding was grand. Velvet carpets, glass dishes, fine food, a magnificent ballroom and a beautiful couple that all thought would protect them. The day of the marriage, King Crimson and the new Queen Allura rode through all the villages in Azuria. The people cheered, they praised and they were happy. The new Queen was beautiful. Her ebony hair, and her bright green eyes; the people fell in love with her instantly. They thought she would protect them, become the symbol that raises Azuria from the dead.

The hope they brought didn’t last long. Nine days after the wedding, Azuria had changed. A cloud of green and black darkness swept into the skies, the earth, the entire empire. The sky was never again blue, the earth was never again green, and the hope never returned. Crimson’s actions turned from good to evil, and misery flooded the land. It felt like the world had changed overnight. It was like a curse. The curse that destroyed everyone’s happiness.

At the ninth day of every month, the soldiers of the Royal Guard would march into Third Class, and take any of the weak. Crimson told us it was to make Azuria the strongest Empire to have ever existed. All the minorities fled, some hid and some died. We never saw them again. At the twenty-fourth hour of that day, red smoke would rise from the Palace, telling the Classes that more have been killed, used and abused for the King’s pleasure. Safety was in short supply.

Every night in the tavern, I would hear more and more folks who were convinced that the ancient story was coming true. But stories don’t have to mean anything. They can just be stories. However, this wasn’t just a story. It was a prophecy.

When Azuria was first formed, an elder came from Rubina to Violantia and he came with a story. The twenty-fourth ruler will turn on their country, their motives to hurt and not to heal. The ruler will reek havoc everywhere. A Shadow of Death will follow every single life, until life itself fled from the darkness. Piece by piece, the country of Azuria will fall apart. The ruler would kill every minority by the end of their twenty-fourth year of reign. The one to save the people, was to be a girl, for she is a minority. A girl with a Serpentine tattoo on her inner right forearm. Everything will come true with the sea turns red, when the night sky turns red, when the land turns red and when the ruler’s eyes turn red. The girl will be in Violantia when she is tattooed with the Serpentine. She would have to finish the ruler’s reign by the Spring Equinox, before the 24th hour, or else the ruler will become immortal. However, the immortal ruler will rot. They will not be able to sustain life. To defeat the immortal, the Girl must find the source of all evil, and destroy it. Or else all the Empires will perish.

When the elder first told it, no one believed him. They thought he was just a crazy old man, who drank one too many glasses. They laughed at him. But he warned them, that those who laugh, will never be saved.

They became afraid. So, they believed him, out of fear. The elder never meant for the Story to scare, but to show hope. Even though the world is a dark place, hope will always arrive. When more believed, the story was told more, and it spread more, people believed it.

When I was younger, I always thought of the Girl would be me, but when I told my classmates about it, they laughed. ‘Why would that happen?’ they said. ‘I wouldn’t want her to save me,’ said a boy. The more I heard them, the more I believed I couldn’t. Why would that happen? Am I skilled enough? Perfect enough? Of course not. I would never be perfect enough to be a hero. If the universe is so kind to let me have an adventure, it was probably out of pity. Nothing ever happens the way you want to, even if you do get what you want.

All I wanted was happiness.

My happy ending. But I lost it a long time ago.

None of those stories are real. I would never get a prince to give me True Love’s Kiss. I would never get to go to a ball, and meet my true love. There’s no such thing as Love at First Sight. I have only ever felt love once, and it was ripped from me.

My parents were the only ones who ever loved me. Even though my father was a brave First class soldier of the king, he fell in love with my mother, who was a Third class seamstress. My father left his exquisite life to start a new one in Third Class with my mother and I. No one ever broke the law of inter-class marriages, but my mother and father did. We were a happy family, regardless of our differences. But my happy life didn’t last long. My mother was killed, but Crimson. He took her from our home, and away from me. He had an executor kill her in the Square for all to see, including me. My father couldn’t bear to live without her.

I lost him too.

~

Living in the forest is not how I wanted to live my life. I’ve lived through storms, destruction, and more loneliness. But there was thing I wanted, and could get. I wanted to look into the eyes of the man who murdered my family, and destroy him. My father taught me to live with no regrets, and that is what I am going to do. I wanted revenge. However, patience is a virtue. So I waited until the 24th year of his rule, when Crimson finally found me.