*About 30 Years Ago*
*A noble and his wife enter an orphanage in Brister during the springtime. The man had short brown hair and orange eyes while his wife had long and wavy purple hair and green eyes. The man wore a black long-sleeved buttoned shirt and khaki pants with black shoes while his wife wore a black blouse and blue jeans with and black heeled shoes. The man had brown facial hair in the form of mustache and beard, and the wife had a silver necklace on*
(Noble man): Ready, Chloe?
(Chloe): As I’ll ever be, Alex.
(Alex): Today’s the day. I’m sure of it.
*Taking a deep breath, the couple enter the orphanage holding hands and walk over to the front desk where an older man with green eyes and short wavy white hair was sitting. He wore a black clergy outfit that was short-sleeved. Hearing the doors open he looked up greeted the couple with warm smile*
(Clergyman): Hello, saints. Welcome to Faven’s Holy Orphanage. May her light shine upon you.
(Chloe): And may it shine upon you.
(Clergyman): How may I assist you today?
(Alex): Hi. I’m Alex Siegfried. Me and my wife had an appointment today to discuss adoption.
(Clergyman): Ah, yes. Mr. and Mrs. Siegfried. We’ve been expecting you. Come, right this way to our orientation class where the other parents are waiting.
*The clergyman gets up from his seat and leads the two down a hallway*
(Clergyman): We’re so thankful you’ve chosen our orphanage as your choice for adoption. The children will be delighted to meet you.
(Alex): It’s us that should be thanking you for getting us through the screening process so quickly.
(Clergyman): Yes, your situation was a unique one. Usually you would have to wait a month or two to meet the children but your background checked out wonderfully and your desire to adopt an orphan refugee from the recent war certainly touched our heart.
(Chloe): So what are the next steps?
(Clergyman): We’ll have you meet the children and interact with them for the next three days. You’ll observe them and they’ll observe you. Normally, it’d be five days but with the recent refugees coming in we’re tight on space and hoping to find them homes before the end of the month.
*As the three are walking to their destination, they pass through a hall and see a bunch of kids playing out in the yard while being watched by other men and women who work at the orphanage. Chloe stops to look at them and smiles. The kids were too busy playing to notice her but when a soccer ball rolled over to the window a boy came over to get it. The boy was sightly dark-skinned, had blue hair and green eyes. He wore a red shirt and dark grey shorts with white shoes. The boy picked up the ball and looked up where he saw Chloe staring at him from inside. They stared at other with Chloe waving at him, but the boy made a funny face to tease her before he ran away laughing. The boy thought his joke angered her but she instead giggled at it before walking away to catch up to her husband and the clergyman. While she didn’t know the boy personally, she managed to get a good look at his nametag: Kaiser.*
***
*Present Day*
*It’s nighttime and in a town settlement, Kaiser aka Kai is walking the streets while wearing a heavy brown coat until he makes it to the guild building. Stepping inside, Kai ignores the ramblings of the other mercenaries and makes it to the front desk where female cat demihuman with dark-skin, blue eyes, and black hair wearing a black shirt, red vest, and black pants is there to greet him*
(Guild Receptionist): Welcome to the guild. How can I help you?
(Kai): Just here to report the completion of a request.
*Kai takes out his phone and pulls up the guild app to show his request which was to capture a group of thieves*
(Guild Receptionist): Yes, we received a call from the local guard not too long ago. Everything checks out.
*The receptionist scans the barcode on the phone and the screen changes to show Kai that a good sum of credits was loaded to his account*
(Kai): Thank you.
(Guild Receptionist): You’re welcome. Have a good night.
*Kai takes his leave from the guild and then heads down to the local bar. What was usually a rowdy and fun-loving place had now become a place of sadness as patrons were drinking out of fear, anger, sadness, or all of the above. Kai entered the bar to the sound of music being played on the stage by musicians and took a seat at the bar*
(Bartender): What are ya buying?
(Kai): Whiskey.
(Bartender): Coming right up.
(Kai): This place seems to be a little livelier than yesterday. But there’s still tension in the air. What’s going on? Taxes being raised?
(Bartender): I wish. That’d actually be better. No, it turns out the king of Rushalia passed away a few days ago.
(Kai): King Regal is dead?
*The bartender nods*
(Bartender): Apparently, he was giving a speech when all of a sudden he had a stroke and collapsed on stage. By the time he got to the hospital it was too late and he passed away.
(Kai): Damn, sorry to hear about that.
(Bartender): And with him gone the kingdom will now belong to his son, Marco the Dashing.
(???): HA! Ain’t that a laugh!
*One of the bar patrons, a chubby bald man with hazel eyes said before downing his mug of beer and taking a satisfying sigh of relief after drinking it. He then slams his mug on the table*
(Drunk bar patron): More like Marco the Narcissist. That little prick.
(Other bar patron): Easy Tyler. You remember what happened the last time you had one too many.
(Tyler): Shove it, Petey! Don’t let me get my shovel! Regal may not have been the best king but he was a fair man. He cared about the citizens, gave us jobs, and protected us. That bastard Marco ain’t nothing like his old man. He cares only for himself and his entourage of “beautiful people”. This whole kingdom is screwed under his rule.
(Petey): Well what else can we do? Regal only had one child. By birthright, he’s the next heir to the throne.
(???): Not entirely.
*The voice came from an elf with dark blue hair and grey eyes. He was sitting at the end of the bar table while drinking his beverage*
(Elf patron): Officially, Marco’s the only child Regal gave birth too, but unofficially he has another child.
(Tyler): Bullshit.
(Elf patron): No seriously. I had a friend who used to work in the guard and was in charge of watching the king before he took the throne. According to him, before he married his arranged wife, he met another woman and had intimate relationships with her. That woman sometime later found out she was pregnant, but the previous king couldn’t risk this scandal getting out and ruining the marriage nor was he cruel enough to kill the mother and child after his son pleaded for their lives. So they bribed her with credits to never reveal the child’s identity and stay out of the public eye.
(Petey): So the king has a bastard son out there who’s the rightful heir to the throne?
(Tyler): Oh don’t bother listening to this elf. He’s just making it up. Everyone knows the king was kept under close surveillance in his youth. There’s no way he could have snuck around with some woman without the whole kingdom knowing about it. Just have your drink and let’s enjoy the show. It’s one of the few pleasures we’ll have to look forward to in these dark times.
*The lights in the bar dim and a spotlight appears on stage as a young woman with green eyes and long brunette hair that was beachy slowly walked out onto the stage all while singing a slow song. She wore a split white dress with white heeled shoes and one strap over her right shoulder. The bar patrons watched in awe as she sang. She had them in the palm of her hands. She finally reached the mic as she seemed to coming to an end on her song*
(Singer): Now. Put your hands together for Silvi Hestarory! Hey!
*The whole bar cheered with the delight as the band switched up the tempo and started playing an upbeat jazz song all while Silvi sang to the beat. Kai watched from the bar tapping his foot to the beat all while enjoying his whiskey*
***
*At the capital of Rushalia inside the palace a young man was looking at himself in the mirror all while shirtless, posing, and wearing white yoga pants. The young man had green eyes and light purple hair that was pomade. In his right hand was a red rose. As he continued posing, a short man with blue eyes, scruffy brunette hair, and wearing a green robe came in*
(Man in robe): Good evening, Prince Marco. I hope I’m not interrupting you?
(Marco): Not at all Malcolm. To what do I owe this mundane visit?
(Malcolm): I have heard you found them.
(Marco): See for yourself.
*Marco points to his desk where a file can be seen. Malcolm picks up the file and looks inside*
(Malcolm): Is this really necessary, your highness? Your coronation will be within five days. I doubt they would do anything to interfere after all this time.
(Marco): I don’t want to take any chances. I’ve been waiting for this coronation my whole life. It must be perfect just like me. After tonight I will have no worries.
(Malcolm): Very good, sir. I shall retire for the evening.
*As Malcolm begins to exit the room*
(Marco): Oh, and Malcolm. Is the Ketcher Family attending the coronation?
(Malcolm): Yes.
(Marco): Remove them. Their daughter has freckles. It disgusts me. I will have no ugly people at my coronation.
(Malcolm): At once your majesty.
*Malcolm exits the room and closes the door while Marco continues to look at himself in the mirror*
(Marco): Soon I will purge the kingdom of all the ugliness that taints it. Rushalia will be known as the most beautiful kingdom in the world with me as its shining star.
***
*Back in the town settlement, the bar had now closed up and Silvi was sitting at the bar enjoying a nice drink*
(Bartender): Great performance tonight as always.
*The bartender drops a wad of credits on the counter by her*
(Silvi): This is a little more than what you usually pay me.
(Bartender): Consider it a bonus. It’s your last night after all.
(Silvi): Thank you.
*Silvi takes the credits and puts them in her purse. She finishes her drink, leaves a few credits on the table as a tip and heads for the door*
(Bartender): Any idea where you’ll be heading?
(Silvi): Figure I head towards the capital. With all this buzz about the coronation I could make a few extra credits than I normally do. Thanks for everything. Take care of yourself.
(Bartender): You do the same. If you find your way back here don’t be a stranger, stop by. I’ll be sure to put that voice of yours to work.
*Silvi smiles as she puts on her blue coat and exits the bar. Once she’s outside she can see it snowing a little and the streets empty as everyone has turned in for the night. Silvi begins to walk down the street back to the inn where she’s staying at. As she was walking a hooded elf figure begins to follow her but from a distance. Soon a second one follows after passing a house. Then a third one. Silvi began to take notice of the elves after the third one and started to pick up her pace. The inn she was staying at was in her sight. Once inside she could let the innkeeper know what’s going on and feel safe. With only two buildings away from the inn, Silvi decided to sprint toward it but was blocked by the elf from the bar who came from behind the corner and stood in front of her*
(Elf patron): Hello miss songstress.
*The elf pulls out an axe with frost on it. Silvi was scared and began to shake. She was about to turn and run away but saw the other four elves behind her blocking her escape*
(Elf patron): A large bounty has been placed on your head. Nothing personal, just business.
*Silvi closes her eyes ready to embrace death as the swung his axe toward her. However, instead of feeling pain she felt nothing. She opened eyes and saw that the axe had stopped by a sword belonging to Kai. The elf used all of his might to slice through the sword but had no luck. Kai was stronger and so was his sword*
(Kai): You know, when you try to take someone’s life it sure feels personal.
*Kai swats the axe away with his sword, and uses his free hand to grab the elf by his collar jacket to pull him in for a headbutt. Kai delivers the headbutt and then throws the elf toward the other elves who scatter to avoid getting hit. Kai then gets in front of Silvi to protect her from the elves who have drawn their weapons*
(Kai): Alright, which one of you is next?
*One of the hooded elves pulls out rapier made of ice and charges at Kai who easily blocks the attack with his great sword and swats the elf with a swing of his sword and blue flames. The last two elves had arrows and fired at Kai who dodged the attacks and charged at the elves. He slashed one the elves with his sword, but the other jumped in the air to avoid the attack. The elf pointed his bow down prepared to fire an arrow but Kai quickly turned his greatsword into a sword whip. The sword whip slashed through the bow and wrapped itself around the waist of the archer. Kai then pulled back on the sword whip and the archer flying toward him. Kai delivered a lariat to the archer to knock him out. With the elves defeated, Kai looked at Silvi who was still scared and visibly shaking. Kai sheathed his sword in order to calm her down*
(Kai): It’s alright. I’m here to protect you. That’s what I was contracted to do.
(Silvi): Contracted? What do you mean?
(Kai): A certain somebody in the palace ask that I protect you, Silvi Hestarory. The Delightful Songstress of Rushalia. The firstborn child and daughter of King Regal. The true heir to the Rushalia throne.
Author’s Note: Welcome to the next arc in the series, where we focus on a favorite character of mine, Kai. I did enjoy introducing Kai in volume 2 and wanted to continue exploring his character and past. This arc will focus on the mercenary work of Kai as well as well as dive into his backstory so we’ll be blending the past with the present during this arc. This idea was heavily inspired by the Avatar episode: Zuko Alone. It’s one of my favorite episodes and one of the best episodes in the series. It was an episode that really benefited Zuko’s character and introduced a new side to him. I hope this arc will introduce a new side to Kai. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.
