Chronicles of Kail: Chapter 1 - A Legend Among Many

Chronicles of Kail: Chapter 1 - A Legend Among Many

[size=15]Across space and time, the birth and fall of countless civilizations marked the creation of countless stories and heroes. Here is one among millions.


Chronicles of Kail
Chapter 1 Part 1: -Librarian Kail- A Beginning


Welcome observer, welcome to the ancient Library of things that were and things that are. This is a sacred place no one has ever uncovered, a place where we record all that revolves around the Balance...and I am in charge of telling you my story because such is the purpose of any World Librarian.
It would be only fitting to start at the very beginning so you can better grasp the end to come so sit down and listen.
In the beginning...there was no Library, no planets...and yet we can stipulate that the spirits were there. We are not certain because at first there was no Library and no Balance, but that is what we believe to be the truth. We imagine that before the Balance, spirits roamed free and unhindered in a dark empty universe that was still barren of matter and Chaos.
One day, for no apparent reason, the Balance appeared... it was the birth of our great Library and of our headmaster One as well. This marked the chapter in time when most spirits succumbed to the power of the Balance and bent to its every will. By then the Balance created a pillar in the depth of space itself causing a phenomenon some call “black holes”. Those black holes were gateways to a place barren and dark, much like the old days where ancient spirits remained free and untamed. This was the birth of Chaos.
Balance created Chaos for the sole purpose of keeping things the way the Balance saw as perfect, and for a time, nothing moved.
Hundreds of aeons passed...and then, a spirit well known among World Librarians spurted out of Chaos and tipped the Balance. This spirit’s name was Life and it was a very frivolous essence in need of new things in a stale existence that never changed for so long. Life saw to it that it would have company in Chaos and so it used its unbound power to create the very first World Librarian from the original headmaster, One.
Little did it know, however, that the Balance would create a brand new spirit to counter what Life had done. This dark and neutral spirit was named Death, and it remained on the side of Balance with a will reflecting the Balance in every single way. At first, Death was charged with the task of destroying the first World Librarian but Life intervened and made it clear that it would die with this Librarian if harm was to come to him.
The Balance, wise in its ways, decided that instead of destroying this Librarian, it would instead give him a purpose: watch over a world. This was not unlike the head master’s way of watching over the universe. That day marked the beginning of matter in the empty universe and the birth of the first planet.
Of course, Balance did not give in fully to Life’s demand, but instead made a deal. And the deal was that Life would create and Death was to feast on this world until, ultimately, it would destroy it and the World Librarian linked to that planet. Obviously, since this deal was created from a bargain, the Balance saw to it personally that nothing would change from now on.
It has been this way to this day.
This means that I, Kail, was born with a planet and that I will also die in time. During my existence, I record everything there is to know about my world, and also its third moon, which sprouted from the bowel of the planet’s core carrying Life in its crust.
You see, Life’s way of spreading across to the moon while the planet was being formed went unnoticed even by me for countless centuries. Finally, when I did hear the first stories from a growing population on the satellite of my own planet, the harm was done. And so, s world born from Life’s vivid imagination was born and with it Chaos was free to proliferate on this small moon.
Ultimately, the Balance tipped in favour of Death and sent his servant to clean up this mess in any way it saw as necessary.

This will be my legacy to you observer: A story of struggle, romance, war and mostly... heroes.

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Pebble of the star, grove in the wood, laughter of joys, breathes of despair, tears and fear : Make-belief babbles of a young boy


Chronicles of Kail
Chapter 1, Part 2: -Boy Romy- A Hero


He ran off as quickly as he could, feeling the need to get away from his home in a hurry. He ran down the stairs leading up to his home, jumped down from the edge of a ditch and ran past the center of his little hometown.
Romy was in a hurry this day for reasons only a child could understand. He wanted to see the lizards crawl out of the roots of so many trees as they would bath in the sun. He wanted to see so much, smell so much and taste it all. Those were the pleasures he knew so well at the time of the warm seasons.
Romy was a small boy, standing a measly 4’6”...and still no mane sprouting. Some said he was too busy running off to notice he was slowly falling behind in growth. Romy didn’t care; all he wanted was to play and forget the bad times when the leaves fell and he was forced to live in the cave of sleep.
This day, other town folks would look at him run and go back to their daily chores as if they didn’t care about young Romy, but deep down, they all liked the little kid. From far away, people would snicker, as Romy’s mother would curse at her boy for being so fickle and carefree, ordering him to come back to her.
Romy would have none of it; he was now at the path he had run so many years before and where he had his first memories of his father being happy...before he lost his right arm harvesting the crops. Romy preferred living in memories of happier times and not dwelling on the state of his now stoic father who lived only to work. His father would plow the crops every day and come back home limping every night. Sometimes, he would cry when he thought no one was around. But Romy knew...
Romy kicked a stone as he sighed heavily and changed his plans for the day. He went directly to the lake and sat down for a drink once there.
Letting his fingers glide over the big pond, Romy dreamed about a life away from his farm town, in search for something he could not yet describe, but that people would call adventure. As his pores were sucking on the clear water, giving him strength, he laid down beside the water and started to rest.
After what could have been minutes or hours to him, he woke up with a feeling of warmth in his wet hand. He turned to see what was causing this, and was surprised to find a little girl staring down at him.
The girl had kneeled down in the mud and has been following Romy’s hand motion delicately, touching his fingers with her own and smiling down at him without a word. She had been sitting this way quite a long time. As Romy got up, the girl looked at him in the eyes with a curious expression and with no intention of getting up, as if she did not feel the water running on her bare legs.
Romy found her odd at first glance. To him, she was an unfamiliar sight with her glowing purple hair and dark red skin. Romy continued to stare at her until finally he blushed as children do sometimes, unsure of what to do with his visitor.
The young stranger got up slowly. She looked almost angelic, draped in a purple long dress. After she let the water slip down her robe, she took a step out of the lake and towards the boy. Romy, suddenly feeling fear, took one step back, but it was too late to avoid what was to come.
The girl took a firm grip of Romy’s head in her delicate but strong hand and with the other one she pulled him to her. Romy closed his eyes in pain as he felt the heat from earlier engulf him completely. He cried in pain as his life fluids trickled down his face. He was in agony...the boy tried to scream, but with no success...
Suddenly, there was blankness. Romy fell to the ground...apparently dead.



Romy eventually got up and saw that he was alone and cold. The lake was as calm as ever. He looked around nervously to see if that girl was still around, but saw no one. It was then that he noticed the sun was setting.
Romy panicked and started to run toward his house in hope to avoid punishment for being out in the wood after curfew.

The child jumped over a stump and passed across many trees...he even cut through the wood to get back faster.
Suddenly, a snake-like creature plucked him from the ground, pulling on his neck hard as if he was being hanged by an unseen executioner. All that could be heard was a small gulp as the boy’s breath was cut short.
He was dragged up in a tree by vines of an unknown origin. The plant entangled Romy’s every limb, crushing and tightening. Soon, the boy started to suffocate. He closed his eyes as terror overpowered him.
As he was about to meet his end, he entered a dream state. The boy saw only clouds, darkness...and 2 dark blue wolf-like eyes peering down at him. As he felt himself becoming numb and weak, he could see the eyes giving way to a head becoming clearer and clearer as his surroundings started to lose focus.
The unnamed beast had cloudy looking jaws and when it opened its mouth wide. Romy saw nothing but darkness inside, and suddenly he realized what terror meant. With terror came an inexplicable anger directed at everything in the boy’s life: His crippled father, his strict mother, his naive ways, and every villager of the simple town. For a brief moment, he hated everything as the mighty beast closed its mouth...


Once again, Romy woke up to find himself bleeding. He began to steady himself despite pain all over his body. He shivered at the feeling of something sticky trickling down his still “buddy” head.
Nervous, he looked around everywhere. What he saw made him lose his breath for a second time. The sight offered to him was what looked like butchery with a dozen tendrils of vines spread all around. After the initial shock, Romy was disgusted when he realized that the fluid dripping down was actually sap from the stem of this vine monstrosity.
Once he calmed down, Romy took the deepest breath had ever taken in his life while rubbing his neck in pain. He looked up at the planet above and let out a silent prayer of gratitude to the goddess of his people. Soon after, he went home limping like his father did so many times before.
As Romy’s mother attended to his wounds and dragged him to bed soon after, Fate had decided to make him the hero of this story.

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A torn friendship, a lost love, an old hatred, a bloody dagger, and a new life: The last words of a broken man


Chronicles of Kail
Chapter 1, Part 3: -Servant Achile- A Villain


I cannot believe what I have witnessed yesterday, but there is no mistaking the deed. Allena, heir to the crown of our kingdom was fed to the vultures after passing away. This is wrong, and yet she died horribly under the blows of her own father while crying out my name in hope that I would make this madman stop. And there I stood on this very spot, unable to understand what my friend had become, until today.
I don’t think it was our secret love affair that drove my old friend to madness, since no one knew about the princess and me, especially not the king. He would never expect such a thing from his comrade in arms. In any case, she had become my purpose to live in those dull days.
Others would have thought it was only for pleasure that I spent all those nights with her, but it was more of a mix of affection and the delight of having someone enjoying tales of the times before the peace in our world. Nothing was more precious than her smile and shining eyes as she listened to my tales of battles and conquests. Every night, she wouldn’t believe all the exploits her father and I accomplished in the dark days before this great city even existed. But tonight...all this is gone...
I am staring at the flesh-peeled cranium, remembering the Princess’s favourite story for one last time. Ah yes, the story of how we won the war against the Lizardons in the last decisive months. It was nearing the end of the war and our allies, the Mantans, were starting to argue about territory and other trivial matters. Even worse, their queen was threatening us to withdraw her forces from the battle to come. It was Arago who took responsibility in murdering their leader and placing a political puppet in her place. The idea was barbaric, but it worked very well and kept the tide going in our favour. Arago was proclaimed a hero for this and it always made me think that evil was really a point of view. Tonight, I am afraid that I will be reliving this story.
Now, as I stand in front of the remains of the love of my life, my eyes are wide open. At first it was in disbelief by the act itself. It was impossible for me to understand how Arago, the leader who united all the humans to rise against the lizardons’ invasion 20 years ago, could perpetrate an act so morbid and violent. Now, as I look at my young lover...I realize the truth and it scares me... My hands, they cannot control themselves and they shake. I am scared of the future to come if I stand still tonight like I did yesterday while my friend remains in power under his present condition. The disease that plagues my old friend is power.
At his prime, he fought hard to save our race against any foes, but now that he has led our people out of those darker days, I fear the lack of enemies to fight might have created an inner demon within him, and that demon now controls his mind. Many sentient leaders fell and became corrupt by power, but Arago’s mind has twisted to an unnatural extent and that is what scares me so much. Definitely, these hands can feel it in their bones; something is going terribly wrong in the walls of this kingdom.
NO! I will not stand idle any longer! Arago might be a war hero, but now that the war has passed, he must pass away to leave the kingdom in the hands of a fair king. I will not let him perpetrate such a monstrous act again... because he might kill soon. I think I have figured him out...
Arago thinks his own bloodline might ruin his kingdom and betray him. He conspires alone in his bedroom against his own family and friends...against me! What’s worst, he might attack queen Korine very soon now that we all know she will bear a new son or daughter. My old friend will probably murder the queen before that fateful day...but I will prevent it!
The whole horror ends tonight. As I pass through the hallway, staring at the pictures and statues of various cultures and origins, I tighten my grip around my blade. This knife... I have prepared to stop my friend. My only regret is not being able to control the terrible shaking in my hands because I wish a swift death for the tyrant. As I open the door to his bedroom, I am not scared to see the queen. Arago never slept with her after she got pregnant.
My will, guiding my future actions, is that of an old warrior, and what prevented me from carrying the murder has turned into a scavenger’s feast. I will not win anything out of this act, but at least I will stop losing.
I tiptoe across the vast chamber toward my victim like a common assassin...What am I thinking? I AM an assassin. Hovering over the bed, I get ready to strike, controlling my shaking and holding the sheets in my left hand. With a motion of the wrist, I push away the covers and plunge my dagger in the heart of my friend letting go of a tear for his departure in the afterlife.
What is this feeling...a sharp pain in my chest...steel? That bastard! As I look down toward the face of my friend, I see him grinning like a demon, his eyes wide open and smiling as blood drips from his mouth. I try to step back and steady myself, but the king clings on my tunic and pulls me close, whispering chilling words that I will take to my grave: “You have served me well, Achille”.
As both men were dying on their deathbed, one smiling and the other one in terror, moans could be heard as the queen was giving birth.

A new order of spirit, a stubborn child, a pointless battle, and an odd power: Boasts from a hotheaded teen.

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Chronicles of Kail
Chapter 1, Part 4: -Student Esteban- A good friend


They really didn’t know what they were talking about when they said I was incompetent. It’s not their problem if I had no tuned spirit. It’s not like I was retarded, or unable to read and write. And now they wanted to expel me only because I’m a waste of time? Well, if it came down to that, I was sure as hell going to run away before they dared do this to me.
For now, I was stuck cleaning the vials from the alchemist course, and it smelled HORRIBLE.
Looking around for a while, I spotted Amy staring at me. Hey, what was the deal with “shorty” over there looking at me work my ass off, cleaning the crap out of bottles and bowls? Did she honestly think that the fact that we were both outcasts it this damned place made us friends? That was so pathetic of her. Hell, she HAD to come and talk to me, didn’t she?

- Aren’t you the kid they’re going to kick off soon?
- Yeah, what about it?
- Well...you know...I thought it was sad, that’s all...
- Look, whatever happens to me is none of your concern, so you go back to your little chemistry set and make yourself something to sleep so you’ll leave me the hell alone.
- That’s not very nice...
- You think? Sorry, I thought I was clear!

After she got quiet, I thought: “Don’t tell me she’s going to cry...what a wimp... better go back to working before she gets all moody and disturbing. Besides, I’ve got a big table to finish tonight. Wait, what’s she doing, crying with that empty SpiritHusk in her hands?”

- What’s wrong? You’ve got nothing better to do than watch me work?
- I...just thought I could help you figure out why you can’t tune in on any spirits...
- You listen, girl! I’m not your buddy, and you won’t make me feel happy by trying to make me something that I’m not! I’m a failure in spirit tuning! That’s all; now give me that husk before you break it!

“The nerve of that girl... ‘I just thought I could help you’. That midget better stop reading romance novels before she makes other people queasy.”
After I took that husk, I started to feel weird: My head began to hurt and there was a pain in my chest. It must have been because I worked out too hard during physical fitness or something similar. The feeling moved...it felt like some kind of worm was burrowing in my body and mind. That thing was crawling out toward my right hand heading toward that husk. This was too much!
I uncontrollably let go of the SpiritHusk in hope to stop this “thing” from spreading any farther. The worm seemed to have coiled up and went directly back where it came from. The shock stunned me and I fell on my back paralyzed for a few seconds, gasping for air.
And that girl, she made it worse!! She came crying on top of me with all her wet tears dripping on my face. I was sure of one thing...the moment I was able to move, I’d shove that brat off of me. She started yelling for help and kept hitting me on the cheek to “help”. Man, what a bubblehead...now she’s getting me in trouble! And, worse, she’s getting all TOUCHY with me!
Yes! I could finally move my right hand and arm. I seized the opportunity and twisted myself over, pushing her aside and shouting at her for no reason.

- Hey! DUMBASS! Leave me ALONE, I said!!!!
- But I’m only trying to....

I slapped the worthless alchemist, and then everything went blank.
Afterwards, I got up, finally able to move my body and think clearly. That is when I realized everything was kind of bigger and I felt weird...wait... it felt like sadness and a lot of incoherent thoughts about guys, love and marriage were running through my head. I reached out to scratch my head and noticed my hair was pink, and ... I had 2 humongous ponytails the size of encyclopedias going down.
I slapped my forehead and turned to see my own body on the ground still paralyzed. I had a brilliant thought, soon after: since no one was around and they’d probably fix this in the morning, I might as well take advantage of the situation. After all, how many guys at my age could say they have felt a women’s body before?
I ran behind a table and did the proper things: exploring this body of mine, rubbing her small breasts and feeling odd about it. As I was about to go for the good part I heard a moaning.
I scurried along back to my body and poked myself on the face finding it funny. My body finally opened his eyes and looked up.

- Hey one question, do you think I look like you?
- Wait...am I having that dream about me and myself exchanging gifts again?

As my body said that, I reared my undersized hand and slapped myself. All went black for a minute again. When I woke up again, I was starring at the ceiling again and felt good about what I did (or maybe it was the fact I stopped liking Esteban). I sat back up and saw Amy rub her cheek in pain.

- You have any clue on how I was able to take over your body like that?
- You...took over my body? Any reason why I hated myself so much?
- Probably side effects...I felt like that too!

Hated myself for sure...I was about to hang myself with all the thoughts that ran in my mind back there. I considered that if could master this weird power, I might still stick around and be taken care of. It’s not that my folks are bad, but I really like steaks on Sundays and a roof that doesn’t leak.
With that said, one of the caretakers came in the room and stared down at the broken husk looking at me with a sad expression.

- What? A guy trips and makes a shelf full of books fall down in the library, and he’s branded a bad child for the rest of his life?
- Last I remember, Esteban, you pushed that shelf deliberately because some fool dared you to.
- I see this is not going to go my way so hmm... I’m done for tonight!

With that said, I rushed out to my bedroom and closed the door behind me. I knew Joshua wouldn’t chase after me; he liked to sleep too much to bother with me every night of the week.

The next morning, there was a nasty surprised pinned up at my door: It was one of those weekly beating notice where I had to stand outside and be humiliated by that hotheaded energy mage fellow. Seems Aradul didn’t like the little incident in his energy lessons.
How was I supposed to know the guy wouldn’t like me throwing an iron horseshoe at him when he was recharging a child toy for his assignment? I mean, there’s no way a guy of his level could hurt anyone, so I thought he should feel what he made me feel every time he bullied me around. Guess those that give it can’t take it...
I stretched my neck and got ready to face him in the courtyard. It wouldn’t take long anyway...I only needed to take a few shocks and lay on the floor pretending that this weakling hurt me real bad. Ah...I hated Mondays
As I stood outside, I saw Aradul in his usual school uniform playing with his hands creating a little static. I knew it was only to try and intimidate me but it’s not like I was going to fall for it.

- Feel ready to burn today for what you have done so unjustly? I...

Ah yes, the gloating, what is a bully without this? Not that bullies are much of anything beside talk. What? He was still talking with his boring speech about his omnipotent power...please.

- Hey Esteban, you’re listening you idiot?

Annoyed at his constant whining, I charged at him with my fist, ready to beat him up the old fashioned way. Of course, I didn’t expect to get that far, but why stop trying every time he challenged me?
He charged his usual energy and fired his lightning straight at me as I braced myself for impact. I waited for it to come, but I saw the electricity go around me and swirl like a small firefly. Finally, I decided that he had misfired or some other thing I didn’t know about (or care about, for that matter). I took my chance rushing to tackle him, making him fall on the ground with a big crack as the electricity surrounding me discharged on the little punk.
I felt so good when they carried Aradul to the infirmary: It wasn’t as much the initial charge as the repetitive punches that followed soon after.
He should thank god that a teacher passed by, or else he would have gotten way more than a broken nose. That night, cleaning the bathrooms seemed more enjoyable to me.

The same night, Amy had numerous dreams about her newfound champion...
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