Chapter Text
As morning light hit his face with a warm and subtle glow, he stirred awake. The first thing he saw was a cold, white marble celling then he turned to his clock, "5:06 in the morning huh, didn't sleep well I guess" he grumbled as he got out of bed. Shuffling forth from his bed, he drew off the covers and stood off the side of the bed revealing his figure. He was about 5' 4" and had lightly tanned skin and he had short hair, white as undisturbed snow, his eyes were Azure blue, steaked and speckled with gold. The boy was toned with defined muscles but slim and not heavily muscular.
Before changing his clothes he stopped and took in the room, he did this every morning as attention to detail was important to him, one day he would be able to walk into a room for the first time and absorb every little detail, beneficial or not, he told himself as his eyes began wandering. It was a large room, the walls were made of a stone similar to marble, but much easier to find here on his home world as apposed to earth, it was also more durable should the palace get attacked. Amongst the vast space of the room were three book cases, two at the foot of his bed on the opposite wall each to one side of the window that cut through monotone wall, the other to the right of his bed and on the wall opposite of the door, next to his desk. His desk had a rather neatly arranged stack of books and papers all required for the military, as he had joined..... a year and a half ago now, "wow time really flies doesn't it?" He said thumbing through the stack of forms and pamphlets. Briefly turning away from his desk he locked his eyes on the nightstand next to his bed with simply a lamp and a clock on it. The lamp shade wasn't anything special, it draped over the light with a lazy like finesse sectioned glass with the color of sand or rock salt trimmed in black upon a lamp post of a rusted bronze color. He turned ever so slightly to the bed, easily large enough for a small family, husband, wife, child, maybe two, but he didn't have all that. There was a trunk at the end of the bed, mostly full of nameless trinkets that held some minor personal meaning or had just been cool, it was made of a dark lacquered wood with a small Iron latch on the front to keep it shut, it was simple, but thats just how he liked it. Small rugs littered the floor, one on either side of his bed, one at the door, and two larger ones sat in the center of the room and under his desk, ah yes back to the desk, the small drawers on top held simple writing tools and the like, but on the very top of the desk in the center was a plaque, dark wood with a simple gold plate bolted to it, a name inscribed, his name.... Joseph Frasca.
He walked out in to the corridor, the opposite wall lined with windows, like glass soldiers watching over the city below. He turned right as to make his way to the kitchen, from there he would head to the main hall and out the building, being on temporary leave was a pain, without being allowed to rejoin his troop for another two weeks he often found himself bored or perhaps just more relaxed than he preferred, either way he didn't enjoy spending his days being as quiet as they were.
As he found his way to the kitchen, he ran into the chef who had been preparing breakfast, startled to see the young man, the chef flinched and gave pause to his work. "Not used to me being up this early are you?" Joseph said with a coy but warm grin. "Actually, I'm not use to you being here at all my prince." The chef retorted, he clearly had a little bit of a French accent lingering on his tongue when he spoke, the funny way he rolled his r's and such. "What's cooking my good man, pancakes?" Joseph asked with almost childish excitement, this man was the best chef in this city and quite a few others, its how he became the royal cook. "Not quite milord, crepes" he boasted, it was Saturday, the chef often started the weekend with crepes, but regardless of what day it was, he always seemed to grumble a little when you asked for pancakes.
After breakfast (exquisite by the way) Joseph was headed for the door like fire through dry grass. Once he had made it to the main hall he stopped, he had to be calm and respectful through this room, at the far end of the main hall there was a very large set of doors, ones you would expect to open to palace interior, dark wood with intricate designs carved from top to bottom, the handles were made of a clear crystal substance that had been melted so gold could be drizzled inside to create an almost fossilized appearance. From the door stood rows of columns down either side of the central walk, one every seven feet or so, there were nine on either side leading straight back to opposite wall, against it was the throne, his father's throne, he didn't much care for the seat, didn't think he could take that much responsibility, luckily he had two older brothers, Isaac and Thomas both in the military. Thomas was one of the twelve generals that lead the planet's military, he rose high and fast for being so young, tactically he was a genius and on the battlefield he was a monster, people wouldn't even spar with him for fear of receiving lasting injuries. Isaac on the other had was part of a specialist team, a group of the best soldiers in the army, each with a very particular skill set. "The best of the best and nothing less" he'd always say.
Keeping the pillars between him and the throne Joseph made his way to the door hoping he wouldn't be seen by anyone official, unfortunately... "Joseph, where are you going?" The figure stood six feet three inches tall, his face was almost featureless apart from two small blue orbs that were his eyes, his skin was the color of rust and seemed textured like it as well, it wasn't, the man was very clearly muscular, and if it weren't for his non humanness it would be questioned as to why all he wore was a cape and spualders. Some of the species simply bore a humanoid shape while others took on more direct forms such as visually human or very much not, all figures humanoid but almost none the same. This man was comfortable in a Neosapian's natural form and Joseph was certain of this, why, because the man before him was the king... and his father, The Ancient. "I'm heading out into town, walk around, talk to friends, pass the time, after all, I have plenty of it as of late." He was honest, you couldn't lie to his father, not because it was illegal or anything, just because it never seemed to work. "(sigh) Very well, just don't go playing hero this time, that's how you got put on "medical leave".) He said this sternly but with what can only be assumed is compassion but you could never tell with the man. "alright dad, if I see someone getting mugged or whatever I'll be sure to "go on my merry way". He spouted sarcastically, his father knowing too well that if something happened the boy wouldn't listen. "I'm serious young man, let the authorities handle these things." He sounded worried, but that wouldn't stop the boy, he held a certain conviction "I would if they could get there before it was already done." Those words cut a little deep into his father, he had gone and modified patrols and employed more officers which had successfully cut down on some crime, but of course not all of it. While crime wasn't a huge problem it was still there, as it is everywhere, murder however wasn't an issue, most of the crime was assaults and robbery, people or their race had a knack for "not dying". With the exchange of words behind them they both had departed, one out the door and the other back inside as he had political obligations.
The city, the great capital of the planet Neospace, was bustling with the noise of busy citizens, off to work, the market, preparing for travel or returning from it, loud as it was the noise was seldom minded, he loved seeing the city busy with the morning "traffic" not a vehicle in sight though, no one need them. All the good feelings went away though when he noticed who was directly ahead of him, the woman making her way to him through the crowds had on of the most interesting talents... where ever she went she had this uncanny ability to piss people off and Joe was stuck with her, she was his stepmother.
As quickly as he could, he made his way into town and out of sight, nothing about the boy was visually spectacular so losing her using a crowd seemed like the best course of action, the last thing he wanted to do right now was talk to that old hag. His stepmother held his brother Thomas up on a pedestal, everything he did was either perfect or he had a "good excuse", Joseph on the other hand, perfection wasn't good enough for this woman. It pissed him off and you would think that Thomas would be loving it, but instead he found it naught but annoying, the fact that she could treat her "own children" in such a polar way and not bat an eye was bewilderment to the both of them, Isaac on the other hand was always to busy to deal with her, lucky bastard. Joseph turned back to see if she was still there, he'd lost her, good he thought as he began to canter through town. The shops were busy, restaurants were packed, and the equally appealing lack of thugs brought a smile to his lips as he pondered where he would start, while he was on temporary leave he still needed to keep up with his equipment and he had a personal training program that he kept himself to, it wasn't much but he was happy with it. The first stop would definitely be the smith, his stuff needed a tune up and possibly an upgrade, as a soldier he got a discount but it was still pricey. His thoughts all got knocked out of him with a thud as someone tackled him to the ground, "I'll give you on guess and maybe i won't mug you." It was the least threatening, fake bad guy voice he had ever heard, "Very funny Kalvin, you got me, what ever will I do, I guess aaall my valuables are yours, someone please help my before this scoundrel gets away." He said in the most sarcastic voice he could manage. They helped each other rise up from the ground, when they were standing he peered at Kalvin, the man was about half a head taller than him, he bore shoulder length light brown, unkempt hair with a tuft of it on his chin, his eye were a greyed out green. His clothes were a little baggy and tattered, you'd think the guy was a hobo, but in fact he was a soldier and in Joe's unit to boot. "How ya been chief?, enjoying your time off?" He said, he was coy and snarky about. "Pretty sure your not supposed to talk to your commanding officer like that, but because I'm off I'll let it slide." They both laughed. "Boss told me I could have the day off, but only if I spent some of it finding out how your doin." "I'm doing alright, a little bored but..." and with that they both turned sharp to sound of a scream, they were on it before anyone else turned. "Don't play hero" yeah right, what was he supposed to do, let it happen. They turned a corner and found the source, a young lady being bothered by two... "gentlemen". "Pardon me boys, but I'm pretty sure the sign says don't touch the masterpiece." Calvin was witty as always, but of course he ruined the surprise part of the element of surprise. "Gents, there are two ways this goes down, One, you leave her be and we all get to go on with our day, ooor, you don't and the two of us get a well needed warm up, your pick." "Joe, dude, your not supposed to give them the choice." "Why?, it makes it that much sadder when they inevitably choose to get their asses kicked." and with a loud thud his fist hit the inside of his other palm, he knew exactly what they were going to choose, little did they know they were dealing with a lieutenant and six year vet, a warm up for them, but a thrashing for the thugs. As violence quickly insured the girl watched in awe as the fight very one-sidedly went down, in a flurry of attacks skillfully landed the thugs were down and out, the first took a full right fist to side of his head, bouncing his face off the alley wall, he went down quick, the other took a few swings at Joe, missing with every one as the young man glided his heel into his assailant's knee, leapt up off the ground and with a full rotation planted his boot in the fools mouth sending him careening backwards onto the ground. "And that's game!!!" Calvin shouted like some sort of TV announcer and with that the authorities had arrived, "your just in time for clean up gents" Joseph spouted proudly. One of the soldiers turned to him and said "I believe your father told you to keep away from ruckus like this my prince." "Its fine, I'm not hurt, she's not hurt, it's just them" he smirked coyly as the perps were apprehend and takin to be questioned, they wouldn't be arrested, they hadn't actually committed any kind of crime, but trouble had been removed from the streets and that was enough for Joe.
As the sun went down the two men began to return to their respective abodes, one much easier to find than the other's. "I don't know about you, but I had loads of fun, ESPECIALLY the guys in the alley, now that, that was the height of entertainment." Kalvin was pleased with his day, he got to hang with his partner off duty, they got to take out some thugs and try a new restaurant albeit it wasn't to good, but the experience was nice. "Shouldn't you get to bed Kal, you have to get up early for training tomorrow." He was genuinely a little worried, after all Kalvin was one of very few friends he had at the time. "It's fine man, besides you always wake up the alarm after you're done shaking the sleep from the sun, so you'll get me up for sure." He said confidently. "Dude, the barracks are like an hour away from the palace at base, that makes you late on the rise." Joe gave him an ever so slightly smug stare of victory, to which Kalvin replied, "Fine, I'll set an alarm or whatever, but if you're not back on duty in a week those guys are totally gonna kick me out because of it." "Then don't make it ear raping loud." the reply given without hesitation as he already knew Kalvin would same something along the lines of that. "You're a pain you know that?" they shared a laugh and parted ways for the evening. Joseph returned home, hesitating to open the door, but what choice did he have... he entered. Surprisingly no one was there, no dad, no guards, not even the janitor was present. "Oh boy" he huffed exasperated and began the trek to his room, hoping he wouldn't run into anyone before he got there... and he didn't, now he was a little worried, something had to have happened, but being a suspended lieutenant and the third son of the king, he wouldn't be told what was wrong, he would just be escorted away, "no harm could come to him, OH no, not the prince" he was getting sick of his stature getting in the way of him helping where he was "clearly" needed. He shook off the agitation an the ever so slight sinking dread and went to sleep, maybe he would find out what was going on in the morning.
He was jolted awake by boots in the hall, lots of them, he leapt from his bed and grabbed his combat gear, a strap and buckle chestplate made of hardened leather and a pair of heavy boots made of a similar but lighter material, both were a dark brown bordering on black and didn't look like they would be useful for protection, but that's because that wasn't what they were for. These garments were under armor for much heavier, chain linked plate mail, not to be mistaken for plate armor or chainmail, it was a more efficient mixture of the two, guarding all vital point with heavy plate while holding it together with linked chain to make it a little lighter and more flexible. He stepped out into the hall to catch the soldiers... and his father in full armor, never a good sign to see the king in combat equipment. He followed them but did not join them, he knew he wouldn't be told, so he decided to "follow" and "listen".
"Sir there's a large group of Shadeosapians twelve miles out from the eastern wall." spoke one of the soldiers
"It'd have been overlooked as just more merchants from the triangle but they're all heavily armed sir." a second soldier said from his left.
"Double the guard at the eastern wall, I don't know what they're doing out there, but I'm not taking any chances.
"Yes Sir, I'll deliver the message right away." Most of the soldiers followed that second speaker out to the eastern wall, leaving only the first and the king in the halls to discuss action. Joseph moved through the room toward them as to hear the conversation better, trying not to get spotted. As he readied himself another soldier burst into the room with a letter, it bore a seal that depicted two crossed axes, it was Gideon's seal, the emissary of Earth for the triangle.
"Sir, a letter from Lord Gideon came for you, he says its urgent."
"What does it say?"
"I don't know sir, I was given strict orders that only you were to read it." The soldier handed him the letter and he tore it open, what could be so important that Gideon would personally write for only the king's eyes to see?
"I see... sigh some how I knew this day would come, send what men we can spare to Gideon, he's on his way and will need an escort, as for you go and join the guards at the wall, I'll send scouts later to confirm their movements".
"Yes Sir!" They both shouted, and with that the soldiers departed, leaving only the king in the hall, he brought himself over to a chair and sat himself, dreading the silence of the next few hours until his scouts brought back intel. Then he heard footsteps turning only to see his son... in combat gear... with a sword on his hip.
"What are you doing young man, I don't have time to explain why you can't go out there."
"Then I guess you can't let Thomas go out there either, or Isaac, come on old man why do you keep me pent up in this big, empty palace?"
"Thomas and Isaac are soldiers, they're suppose to be out there, besides we don't even know if we're going to need them yet."
"I'm a soldier to old man, I have been for more than a year. You need to get over the fact I'm not a kid anymore." His father stared at him with acknowledgement and a slight bit of shock, he then proceeded to look down onto his feet, slightly sorrowful as reality caught up with him.
"You're right, you're a lieutenant now and you've been out there before,(sigh) you all grew up too fucking fast... very well, I want you to personally confirm the position of potential combatants and relay them to Captain Moore, if he gives you any trouble give him this letter and tell him that I said your back on duty." He proceeded to give the boy a wide important looking letter, it was a papyrus color with a Red Seal bearing the royal family's crest.
"Yes sir." He said with a smirk, he had gotten himself off of temporary leave, even if he would have to pick back up when this was over, but that didn't bother him, he was just glad to be back.
He made his way out to the eastern wall, trudging through alleys and backroads, he knew all the shortcuts through town and as a soldier in one of the most mobile units, it was helpful to know what went where. Arriving at the east gate he slide through finding his good old unit on the other side. Walking up to the captain, he greeted all his fellows, intending to speak with a few of them once all was settled. Tapping the captain on the shoulder, he fixed his posture and saluted as the captain turned.
"What on gods precious Neospace are you doing here lieutenant, you were removed from active duty nine days ago for..." Joseph cut him off with the letter, saying only four words.
"From the King, Sir."
"The king sent you, why?, What exactly does he want me to do with..." He stopped himself as he read the letter. "Very well lieutenant, it appears you've been given temporary leave of your temporary leave, you will assume your duties as per usual, BUT I will have someone keeping a close eye on you at all times, is that understood?" Begrudgingly he nodded to his commander, he was not fond of being watched like some sort of misbehaved dog.
Upon daybreak the soldiers were up and ready, awaiting the hopefully swift return of the scouts. Joseph's unit was two miles out from the eastern gate to the capital, when the scouts arrived they bore interesting news, two were wounded, but not horribly.
" What happened?, did they attack?, are they on the move?" One of the scouts stopped him from going on, he didn't need to waste time asking questions that were going to be answered anyway.
"They were defensive, they didn't attack us until we got close, but I can tell you this, they definitely aren't a guard troop for a merchant caravan."
"Well, this indeed leaves us with few options, but more questions still. Lieutenant!!!"
He waited for Joseph to arrive beside him.
"Relay this information to his majesty, he need to be informed that hostiles is the most likely scenario and that they're closing in."
"Right away captain." So soon as the words had left his mouth the boy was off, bobbing and weaving and zigging and zagging through the city like a snake through a river. He ran through the same alleys as before but morning "traffic" had forced him over rooves and off balconies enroot to the palace, he was worried to be honest, why so many soldiers and why did one of their allies have a military force at the wall? None of it made sense, maybe when he brought the intel to the king some of his questions would be answered. Arriving at the palace he threw open the huge doors and began searching for his father, he wasn't on his throne, maybe the study or the conference room then. He checked the conference room first and in a stroke of luck he found it occupied by the man he was looking for, as well as his brother Thomas and the other eleven generals. As he walked the conversation halted and they all turned to him, it was a conundrum, he wasn't high up enough in the military to hear this, but he was the prince which meant technically he was aloud to listen. The silence was broken when his father waved him over.
"What is it my boy, what have you run all the way from the walls to tell me?"
"It's definitely military, they don't have any merchants or caravans with them, they're all heavily armed, and the scouts that got sent came back injured. They're slowly moving towards the wall and keep contacting a third party shortly before each advance." Everyone in the room shot each other inquisitive glances trying to conjure up some idea of what the Shadeosapians were doing and who they were contacting, then all eyes were back on king as he began to speak. Not a single word escaped his lips before everything shook in a thundering BOOM, something had collided with the outer wall.... the city was under siege
They rushed out of the palace to to the sounds of screaming and bloodshed, not a single one of the generals hesitated to charge the walls, eastern where the first enemy troop was discovered, and the northern, where the walls had been struck. Unsure of where to aid, Joseph turned to his father and awaited his orders, his father however seemed slightly puzzled.
"Dad, what's wrong?" he sounded worried while his father was always one to lean toward diplomacy, however he wasn't one to hesitate on the battlefield should bloodshed be required.
"I don't understand, why now, what is so different now that would drive them into this kind of bloodthirsty assault? They've never been this coordinated, It had to have been planned, there has to be some sort of mastermind, some deviant in control." he turned to his son and stared at the boy thinking, pondering, assessing.
"Go, use the artillery as cover, find the man behind this and inform me of his identity and coordinates." Without a word he was headed for the battle field carrying nothing but a sword and a cloak, before leaving the gates he wrapped himself up in the cloak trying to conceal himself from prying eyes. It worked well enough, but it would not protect him from the crossfire so he had to be careful for this part. Weaving though hills and trenches he made his way to enemy lines just behind a large hill, but he was stopped by quite a sight, row after row after row of enemy soldiers, there were thousands. There was simply no possible way for him to get through that massive collection of Shadeosapians to find their commander, even with this cloak on he neither looked nor moved anything like them, so he simply returned to his own, but not before catching a glimpse of one of the monsters transmitting a message, "their leader isn't here" he thought to himself as made way for the safety of the walls.
He was half way back across the battlefield when he heard it, the thundering of an army dashing toward their enemy, unfortunately he and his people were their enemy. As the army charged a few on the side caught a glimpse of him and broke off from the pack, they had him in their sights and blood on their minds, fine if they wanted "blood" he'd give it to them, he slowed, grasped his sword and drew the blade simultaneously with a one eighty rotation cleaving the top of the first ones head clean off. Admittedly he was nervous, he had never fought in any real battles, just the rough and tumble that came with bandits and drunken brawls, but these... things were after blood, fine if "blood" is what they wanted it was what they were going to get... kind of, they don't exactly bleed, but you get the point.
The battle raged on as Joseph fought two strays to side of the war zone. Trading blows Joseph and his aggressors seemed rather evenly matched, the only problem was the fact that they had the numbers advantage, leaving shallow cuts in groups of fours matching their claws. He parried blow after blow after blow until one of his opponents reared for a heavy swing, cleaving off chunks of the sword.
"God fucking..." He tossed the sword aside, as it was now pretty much useless, and turned burying his fist in the monster's face. He watched as it tumbled backwards only to be torn apart by the cross fire of the battle raging on beside them. He could not watch long however, as he turned the other Shadeosapian lunged at him, he caught it by the wrists, it was a little stronger than him as it pushed him down toward the ground trying to bury its claws in the sides of his face. He rolled backwards and threw his legs between their arms, planting both his heels on its jaw, launching it backwards. Instead of taking the time to regain himself, he immediately flew to his feet and charged at the tumbling foe. As it began to get to its feet, he placed his hands firmly onto its shoulders and drove his knee into it's skull, watching the orb of bone and fire roll about on the ground.
"God, that really fucking stings." He grumbled as he trudged back to allied lines wrapping his wounds in strips of the tattered cloak. Makin his way toward the wall he heard a familiar voice coming toward him, peering up from his cuts he saw his eldest brother, Isaac. He was taller than Joseph but not by much, he had the most vibrant green eyes with freckles all over his face and short brown hair. He wasn't visibly muscular, he didn't even seem toned, but he was definitely strong, no doubt about it. Isaac approached Joseph, he seemed slightly worried, but there was something else he was feeling.
"What happened to you man? Who beat the tar out of you?" Isaac spoke in a calm and slightly humorous manner until he saw the whole of his brother's injuries, then he was mad, but Joe stopped him before he went hog wild out into the fray.
"Don't worry about it Isaac their dead, I took care of it." Isaac was beaming, he acted like he was some proud dad. Isaac began analyzing Joseph's wounds which warranted a sharp inhale as he smack Isaac's hand away. "OW! don't touch dude, that fucking hurts!"
"Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to induce the suffer" he backed away a little, then one of the people he was with tapped him on the shoulder "Hmm? Oh! Yeah, we gotta go bro, you know, kick ass, take names, that sorta thing." with that Isaac and the rest of his crew departed for the battle field. Joseph on the other hand, had important business to attend to and refocused on getting the information to his father.
The battle had been raging for hours when Joseph arrived at the palace, he threw the door open to find his father pacing before the throne, he was worried and rightfully so, it was going poorly both sides were making a mess out of each other, so many had "died" and it would be hours before the rebirth chambers had regenerated their bodies from the cores that had returned. The Ancient turned to see his son, wounded and tired, but alive.
"Thank god your alive, what news do you bring? Do you know who leads them?" Joseph shook his head, he didn't know, but he knew how they were receiving their orders.
"Have you at least seen Thomas?" he seem a little worried, and come to think of it Thomas was loud and violent, but Joseph had neither seen nor heard anything from him for hours.
"I'll look for Thomas as soon as I can, but I found something you're going to want to hear. The guy in command on their end, isn't here, they have a select few guys manning these weird transmission booths, then the guy just leans out and does one of those howls and everybody just loses their collective shit."
"Interesting, I'll have some men try and pinpoint the broadcast and we'll see if we can determine at least a where, as for you go to the walls and use them to get a better vantage point, find your brother and take this."
He handed his son a small cube, completely smooth and a vibrant ocean blue. He pocketed the trinket and then they discussed their next actions briefly after which Joseph departed for the walls, his next objective in mind, find his brother and put an end to the battle. Once he had gotten to the top of the walls he gazed out upon one of the most gruesome things he had ever seen, a battlefield saturated in blood and fire, the way his day started he never thought something like this could've happened, life was cruel a mistress and mercy, she kept for herself. Peering out over the warzone, he struggled to find any evidence that his brother was ever even there, he cantered his head in hopes of maybe hearing something, but the noise of the battlefield was too much even for how far out it was from the walls.
His eyes darted across the battlefield, looking for any sign of the younger of his two older brothers, he could pick all of the generals... except Thomas, he wasn't there. Why wasn't Thomas on the battlefield? There was no way he died, to strong and the man would rather die than run so he didn't retreat, he was just, gone. Amongst the carnage Joseph laid eyes on his other older brother, his face turned pale. Two of Isaac's unit were hauling away the third, while the fourth, Isaac, was holding off the horde that charged them. It was a furious fight, he'd take a few out and then one or two would get to him, he'd shake them off, rinse, repeat. It wasn't going well he looked horrid, bleeding profusely and breathing heavily, he wouldn't let them get to his team, but there was no way he could hold them at bay, so he made a split second decision a pulled out a small switch, he was mangled and dying it was the best option. Joseph stared in horror as he knew what came after that switch.
Isaac turned to face the walls, the enemy lunged at him, but it seemed like slow motion in comparison to what he felt ha had to say, to do.
"Give hell for me would ya Joe?" There was no way Joseph could hear him, but he knew he would get the message. He lifted the small lid that concealed a button and with no remorse, no regret, he pressed it. Joseph watch in a mixture of sorrow, horror, and rage as an explosion erupted from where... where his brother used to be.
He ran straight for the palace holding back tears, he knew couldn't let himself cry, now was not the time for mourning, tears would cloud his vision and mourning, his judgment, he had to get back to the palace, his father had to know. He arrived at the palace only to see two Shadeosapians off to the right of the doors, looking at them all he could think of was Isaac, he was livid. He launched himself at them, planting both his feet in the first ones head driving it into the wall, shattering the skull of the body it had stolen from the dead into splinters. The small doomfire soul seeped out of the headless skeleton and started to fly away, but Joseph did the unthinkable, he grabbed it, knowing full well that doomfire devoured everything it touched. He hand was being scorched, but instead of letting go he screamed, crushing the flames in his hand as flames of white and gold erupted from his fingers engulfing the fire soul and completely eradicating what was left of it, this was godfire, doomfire's polar opposite and until now, a skill Joseph didn't know he had. He couldn't seem to get it to light again, maybe because of the burns, but it didn't matter now. The other screamed at him, his only response... burying his fist in its teeth, forcing its mouth open as wide as possible so he could drive his fist in a second time, splitting it's head in two. As the top half bounced and rolled down the pathway away from the doors, the jaw simply dropped to the ground, the very same ground that began shaking beneath his feet as the walls were struck by mortars called Fragskulls. Joseph burst into the palace.
"Where are you Oldman!!! Now is not the time to just not be here!!"he was angry, fuming, livid. One of his brothers was missing and the other was dead, but where was his father when this happened, not here and he certainly wasn't on the battlefield "DAD!!!" he shouted once more, his hand stung immensely as he clenched a broiled fist, but just before he called out a third time he heard him, his father through the door to the right of the throne. He barged in, seething, what was his father doing letting his people, his FAMILY die while he stayed locked up in the palace.
"What are you doing!? Why aren't you... what is that?" he stared cautiously at what looked like an interplanetary transport vessel.
"Are you running?" he said in complete disbelief mingling with disappointment.
"No, you are." He was plain about it, the look on his face was one of defeat, sorrow, and grief.
"No, no no no no no, NO, I am not going any where dad, Isaac is dead."
"I know (sigh) I was afraid you would say that and I knew... that you would."
"What are you...argh!" A sharp pain struck the back of his head and he collapsed. In his final moments of consciousness he could vaguely here his father protesting the actions of someone, probably his assailant. The voice that responded was an older, more grizzled man.
"Listen sir, you've lost one son and been forced to take judicial action against another, do you really want to loose the third?" Silence aired after. "That's what I thought, now help me get him into the shuttle and remember, all will be for not if he doesn't possess the artifact." As he was loaded into a shuttle, the last thing he heard was his father saying "I'm sorry" and then the door seal on the shuttle engaged. He tried so hard to make out who the second person was, but his vision was too far gone. The shuttle launched and Joseph could do nothing, but drift out of consciousness, into the vast darkness of an unknown destination.