uh oh. made another bunch of babies. nobody look at the fact that i have 80+ fantrolls, i dont have a problem, i dont know what you’re talking about.

                                prologue

                Many, many solar sweeps ago, a man began an empire. He was a man born with traits that made him unique; he had a natural strength far greater than anyone else he had ever met, he bore gills and fins in tandem with his air lungs, making him amphibious, and he had outlived those same folk he had been stronger than. The man, upon realizing his innate and effortless eminence, decided that he could do whatever he liked, and none would be able to stop him. So the man built his empire, rarely doing anything other than killing those who opposed him.

                The man’s gifts were granted to him by his blood, he came to see, for no one else shared his color. He set up a system of government based around blood colors. He placed himself at the top of his hemospectrum, his organization of the bloods. Below him he tested and found violetbloods to be the next most suited to ruling, as they shared his amphibiousness and were stronger than any other bloods, save for himself, of course. Under violet, purple. Purple gives way to indigo, indigo to cerulean, and the spectrum continues down into teal, jade, olive, yellow, brown, and finally red.

                The castes gave rise to hostility and segregation between bloods, and the man loved it. He encouraged it, even. Collective terms for groups of castes came out; indigo, purple, and violet were highbloods; cerulean, teal, jade, and olive were midbloods; and yellow, brown, and red were lowbloods. As you go down the scale, the bloods’ lifespans get shorter and their body temperatures get higher. Lower bloods also have a higher tendency toward special abilities, typically mentally. A redblood with the ability to make things levitate, a yellowblood with powers of persuasion, these are but two examples of the billions of powers and trolls in the population. The man, in his casting, did take this into account, but didn’t deem petty telekinesis enough to make up for their weaknesses.

                Given by his blood were not only good things. The man was no hero. Inside of him, there was an instability that he could not help but have. It made him violent and angry, more often than not. This was another effect of his unique blood, and another thing that lessens down the spectrum.

                The man became the first emperor, and his descendants, sharing his blood, took rule one after another after him, and all continued his tyrannous strategies. Thus begins the roots of our story.

                                  chapter one

                “ARCANO!” his voice rang out, loud and terrifying. He was angry. I hurried into my room and closed the door. His footsteps came down the hall. I knew he’d come regardless of the door, he always came no matter what, but I still held the hope that maybe this time he wouldn’t.  But he did. My door opened, and standing in the frame was the emperor. “You were in the library,” he said, and I knew the low anger that was under his smooth tone. “Y-Yes, sir,” I answered. Lying made things worse. “I told you to stop going to the library.” I nodded shakily. “Yes, I know, sir.” There was more anger in his voice, and I knew I made a mistake when he growled, “No, you didn’t know. You don’t know anything. If you had known, you wouldn’t have gone back in there. Why do you keep returning to the library?” I didn’t know if the question is rhetorical or not. “I asked you a question, Arcano.”

                “I-I don’t know,” I mumbled. “Exactly. You don’t know. You’re stupid and weak. The library can’t fix that, so don’t go back. Am I understood?” I nodded. His hand struck my face, and tears welled up, but I couldn’t cry in front of him. “Am I understood, you worthless piece of filth?” he repeated. I hadn’t answered him out loud, so he was angry. I hurried to say, “Yes, sir.” He made his order clear by saying it once more, “Do not step foot in the library.” He slammed the door shut as he left. I touched my face and shook as I started to cry, but I rushed to my bed and muffled myself against a pillow. I couldn’t be too loud, or he’d hear and ‘give me something to cry about’.

                I shake my head to clear the memory. That was a sweep ago, when I was four. It was the last time I allowed him to do that, since I ran away the day after it. I have a lot of bad memories from when I lived in the palace.

                My name is Arcano Acipen, and I am, or, was, the heir to the throne. I ran away from the palace and have had to struggle to survive ever since. The emperor, Terois Acipen, treated me horribly, and I was younger at the time, but I still knew it was wrong. He would beat me and insult me. I couldn’t be safe unless he wasn’t in the palace, and even some days, when he wasn’t there, one of his advisors enjoyed torturing me. Natali Otalia was practically his second in command. I always thought it was weird, how closely she advised him. He could make his own decisions, but he still relied on her ideas a lot.

                I was the heir, but that didn’t make my life easy. I wasn’t always fed, I wasn’t treated well, I was usually hurt from the emperor, and he banned me from the library, and reading was the only thing I liked doing. Escaping was hard, too. I tried to sneak and save food so I would have some, but stealing and saving it was difficult. Since I didn’t always get to eat, I was always hungry and eating even less made me feel sick and tired. I didn’t have much stored when I left, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to go.

                I stayed in the city until I noticed posters and news reports that said I was missing and asked to bring me to the palace if I was found. I ran from the city and tried staying on the outskirts, but there were still too many people. I went further, and after a day I found a small mountain. I walked around it and discovered a hole in its walls thanks to a small lizard that ran out. I clambered up the rock wall and through the hole. Turns out, the mountain had an open top, and inside was a valley.

                I sat in the entrance, stunned. The valley was so beautiful. There was soft-looking grass, butterflies, dragonflies, bees, trees, colorful flowers, and a lake. A couple of deer saw me and trotted away. I saw berry bushes and apples and cherries on some trees. I hopped onto the ground excitedly and ran to a bush, grabbing berries and eating them. I hadn’t gotten much food living on the streets. I had found heaven in the valley.