DEKANI

Prologue

Gods are not born.

For they are made.

This was the fundamental philosophy behind Toron architecture.

For we were created by Lord Ballard, as weapons against the Severens.

For the mighty Tora. The military guard of the Toron were not enough.

Did the Toron commit etreum, and take in the survivors of the Void Incident. Thousands of children aboard the craft that day, experimented like livestock.

To produce the strongest warriors. Wrapped in steel. Bathed in the Void.

Gun and blade.

We were unmatched.

Our way of war, taught to us by the Tora Soldier Nava.

We fought back the Severens. And tore them apart. Warriors who felt no pain. Who fought with infinite stamina. For our consciousness was what drove the Lances. Powerful warriors who gave their lives, either voluntarily or involuntarily, to the Toron Empire, to serve the greater good.

But it wasn't until we met Lena, after the Great War against the Severens. After Queen Luna was destroyed and the otherworldly empire fled, and we had slain the Toron Empire with the same weapons bestowed upon us by Toron Nobles.

Did Lena take us in.

And from that day forth, we were complete.

Tora Nava taught us the way of war.

Lena taught us the way of a defender. Of a spy. Of an assassin. Of a mercenary.

All for her own gain... isn't that right kiddo?

"Silence...." I muttered.

All of that. To destroy and fight the Scrava and the Corpo. The last remnants of the Toron Empire. You fought so the Severens didn't. We were trained to serve the Severens. Deceived by Lena.

"I said be quiet!" I roared, as I found myself awake. My body was still trapped, and I found myself face to face with what appeared to be a gigantic empty skull of a bird.

"Prince Nero." I sneered at the towering Severen.

"Dekani Price." Nero mused, as he paced back and forth in his bony frame.

"Where is Lena?!" I yelled, but Nero paid me no attention, inspecting me.

"You are in no position to speak, little Valian. Without your Lances you are nothing. You are just a boy. Yet despite that, it was still enough for the Void to influence my dear sister into almost compromising all of us."

"YOU deceived her!"

"I brought Lena home." Nero growled, his face inches from mine.

"If it had not been Ballard's emotional yearning for Freya, and the Void warping his mind, Lena would still be apart from her kind. She simply has returned home. And you demand that she leave us once again for a Void devil like you?"

I gritted my teeth.

"Lena is no longer a part of you. She had forsaken her sequence. To become someone better."

"She became someone she was not. Perhaps you will never understand. A Void devil like you would never understand the importance of family because you lived most of your life without one."

My vision became red with rage.

"What do you know of my tribulations, you Severen scumbag!"

Nero opened one of his limbs, revealing two orbs.

"Every Severen's life. Is one of greater. But even so, death is not without mourning. Our mother. Queen Luna. It was because of YOU she had died. This empire was our last chance. Yet your lust for battle. Your lust to kill. Your lust to draw blood."

Nero traced his fingers against my face as I winced in pain.

"That is the difference between us Severen and you Valian. We fought for a purpose. Do you know what we call those who kill for the fun of it? Psychopaths. You and your brethren were given so much power, and you used it for your own desires."

Nero's scratching became more intense as blood began to trace down my cheek. I did my best to withstand the pain. As a Valian, pain was foreign to me. I was always in my Lance. And we never felt pain in battle.

"This universe... it is an unfair and cruel place. Queen Luna was dying. We needed to save our Queen for she had done so much for us. But a higher power destroyed our chances. All for the ridiculous purpose of self satisfaction. But this ends."

Nero backed up.

"This ends because now, Lena has returned to us. She is the new Queen, to avenge Luna. And we will never. Ever. Give another Queen over to the darkness that is the Void."

I closed my eyes as Nero left the room.

Something went ran down my cheek. Tears.

"Mother..."

The Severen flesh was curling around my limbs now as I felt my body start to disintegrate. My very essence disappearing.

Was my war against the Severens justified? Was my very existence justified? Nero wasn't wrong.

We took Queen Lena away from them.

We took Queen Luna away from them.

If I didn't exist...

The Severens wouldn't have so much hate. Luna would have lived. Lena would have been happy.

But because I was here, along with the rest of the Valian, Lena chose to abandon her mission. She raised us, and became brainwashed. She killed her own kind.

Who were the real bad guys in this story?

"Maybe I should just... disappear..." I murmured as everything turned black.

* * *

"Steel your resolve. Your enemies will grow fierce. Trust in your training." Nava said as I resolved out of my Excal lance, falling to my knees and vomiting all over the floor. I was still a little child at the time. Still new to my void powers.

I looked at Nava, his stoic and regal face. He had no sympathy. Sympathy was for the weak. That was the Tora way.

"Stand, Dekani Price."

"But... Nava I can't." I gasped as I crawled forward and grabbed Nava's feet.

"No more... please no more..." I begged, but Nava zipped away with blinding speed, aiming the blade to my face.

"Will you beg the Severens for mercy as well?"

"No..."

Nava knelt down in front of me.

"Will you serve the Toron?"

"Yes."

"Why is that?"

I paused. Nava never asked us stuff like this before. When we trained with the Tora soldier, he was always harsh on us. He never cared about what we felt. We were weapons of war. For the longest time that was how it was.

"I... is such a question relevant?"

Nava's eyebrows furrowed in disgust as he picked me up with one arm.

"You dare question my teachings, Valian?"

"I-"

"Open your eyes. Dry your tears. Recede your nausea. And look around you."

I did what I was told.

"What do you see?"

"Nothing..."

Nava dropped me on the ground.

"You claim to wish to serve our nation. Yet time and time again you hesitate to lift your weapon. You hesitate to bring the blade down. You fear killing. And because of that fear, you never advance, while the rest of your brethren move forward, you remain steadfast. So I will ask you again."

Nava leaned in closer to me.

"Why do you want to serve?"

I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth.

The answer was obvious.

"I want to be a Valian so I can protect my little brother, Arsani. So I can fight in his place. I want to become a better Valian than my brother so I can protect him. But at the same time, I want to keep my integrity."

Nava raised an eyebrow as I continued.

"I will protect Arsani from the horrors of war. Even if we are both at the front. One of us will need to fight, so the other will not. Arsani is pure. If I kill, I will lose myself. And I can't bear to see Arsani watch his own brother be consumed by the darkness."

I got to my feet as I resolved back into my Excal Lance.

"I will become a Valian. I will serve the Toron Empire. But I will do it in a way that doesn't compromise who I am. So I can both protect my loved ones but stay true to myself. That is who I am, Nava. That is my Valian way."

That's right. The whole crux of who I was as a Valian was fundamentally to protect the people I loved. But to keep my own integrity. And to stay true to myself.

My mind flashed to the day Lena had approached me. I chose to stay behind and become a defender, knowing full well that it would be looked down upon by my Valian brethren.

"Do you fear battle, Valian?"

I clenched my fist.

"Yes, Lena."

"Of all the Valians who went forward to take the battle to the front, you swallowed your pride and stayed behind. Your honour for your family, and your integrity overrides your ego. Not many Valian possess this trait."

"That isn't it, Lena. Arsani is gone from me now. He doesn't know who I am. And he has become a far greater Valian than I. My brother doesn't need my protection anymore."

Lena regarded me.

"Then why do you choose to stay-"

I turned to her.

"Because I want to stay and protect you."

Lena paused.

"Dekani..."

I resolved out of my Lance and approached the woman who I thought of as my mother. I didn't care if she was Severen. I didn't care about any of that.

"I don't care if my kind hates me for it. I don't care if I'm called a coward. But... I want to stay and be with you. Because you are also one of the people I hold most dear. I will lay my life to protect you."

Lena pulled me into an embrace as I felt warmth spread through my body.

"You are not a coward, Dekani. You are something far greater than your kind. You are special because you choose not to be special. You are strong because you choose not to be strong. And it is because you offer something the others do not."

Lena stroked my hair.

"I see all the Valian as my children. To each Valian, they acknowledge my feelings. But they act along their purpose. But... you are different, Dekani. Because you reciprocate my love."

Energy began to well up in my body as tears raced down my face. The Severen's control weakening on my body as I clenched my teeth and powered up. I will not let the Severens take over my body. I will escape.

Lena's voice echoed in my head.

"When you are in trouble, I will be here for you."

The shackles began to crack as I yelled. The void energy in my body overloading the confinement I was in.

"And when I am in trouble... Dekani Price... promise..."

Nero wanted Lena back. Maybe his reasons made sense.

But so were mine.

"Promise you will be there for me. My dear son."

"RAAAAARRGGHHH" I yelled with all my might as I destroyed my restraints, floating in the air as I unleashed a powerful void blast and destroying the walls. I landed on the ground as I stared at my hands, which were glowing teal.

I needed to get out of here. I needed to find the rest of my crew. So I can regroup and continue with my quest to save my mother. To find Shane, and to guide him. Just as Lena had guided me.

I ripped my way out of the prison. One step at a time.