Chapter 10: Sons of Deviluke

Previously:

"One more thing," Sephie spoke to the AI, "How good are you with keeping secrets?" She wondered.

"Secrets. You wish to transact private information between the two of us, hidden from whom?"

"Can you keep all this under wraps… from Gid and Zastin?" She asked, her eyes looking left and right, then turning to look at the sleeping Devilukean uneasily. 'I mustn't get too attached to them, they're just children, and we'll be on our separate ways… soon enough…' She thought sadly.

"I am able partition a portion of my memory dedicated to confidential conferences between you and I, yes." Atlas agreed.

"Good, please do." Sephie said, hopping out form the captain's seat, yawning.

"I will notify you if there are any new developments or progress regarding the decryption progress. Good night, Lady Sephie."

Accompanied by the hue of silence and the whispers of the Devilukean night, in the moonlit cell, columns of shadow fell unto the gentle face of a young Devilukean soundly asleep, a certain gleam lit off the trident pendant laying on his chest.

Chapter 10: Sons of Deviluke

As planet Deviluke turned out of its slumber, so too did a new day.

Having been released from prison after a long night of reflection, the short Devilukean reconvened with his brother and the Charmian at the town square. With various stores and other dull buildings surrounding the square, the centre of it all laid several benches, each guarding a large lime statue of a Devilukean kneeling on one knee and slouched over, supporting an intricately decorated and aged globe behind atop back. At the foot of the statue read 'Davos – First King of Deviluke'.

"Hey hey~" Gid greeted chipperly, snaking through the busy square, towards the statue. At the foot of the statue stood Zastin and Sephie.

"How was prison?" Zastin asked, genuinely curious.

"Piece of cake really, the food could be better though." Gid quipped back, imitating himself choking out of disgust. Zastin laughed at the imitation.

"Hope you didn't miss me too much~" Gid teased Sephie, who blinked in surprise.

"O-Of course not! W-Why would I miss you at all?!" Sephie tripped over her words.

Pleasantries aside, the three stood in the square, and for a brief moment, an uncomfortable awkward silence came upon them. Gid and Sephie felt it, but Zastin remained oblivious.

"…"

"We should discuss our next moves somewhere quieter." Gid raised.

*Half an hour later…*

Leaving the buzzing markets behind, the three teens ventured off west further and further into the city. And as they did, the mood of the city became seemingly blending into a more mellow one. With marble footpaths emerging and branching off, the city came to look more and more sophisticated.

"Here we are…The Great Library of Deviluke!" Gid read out as they came to a stop. Before them was yet another town square, with what seemed to be the main square this time. Due directly north stood a monumental structure. A Parthenon rivalling the size of the Royal Castle in area, but lacking in defences and height ; the mega structure was a penultimate mixture of marble and stone. A couple flights of marble steps lead up to the building itself, which had flags of purple and a single black trident insignia (Devilukean colours) draping in between the thick and decorated columns.

"Woah…." Sephie gasped in awe. 'I had no idea Deviluke was so… beautiful…'

"Check it out!" Zastin's jaw dropped as he followed the two towards the great library.

Atop the library clay red tiled roof and all the surrounding edges stood statues, erected by marble – each bearing resemblance to various warriors and robed figures, poised outwards. There etched along the outer walls of the Parthenon were intricate drawings and depictions, most of which unknown to the three.

The three circled around the fountain at the town square and approached the great hall, stepping up the flights of stairs draped with purple sheets.

Reaching the towering doors of the library, the teens were greeted by two guards by the gate, crossing spears in an 'X' fashion, blocking their entry.

"Halt." One of the guards held out a hand. "What is the purpose of your visit?"

"Do we really need a specific reason to enter a public library?" Gid asked.

"In normal circumstances, no." The Devilukean guard said, maintaining his position "But this is war time, and army protocol has deemed the library to be a military asset in times of war. Sections of the library will be restricted to military personnel only."

"W-We're just here gather information. And to s-study." Zastin answered meekly.

The guards exchanged a brief look before pulling their weapons aside. "You three may enter, but please stay clear from the restricted areas." The guards warned, allowing them to pass.

"Will do." Gid dismissed as he marched right on ahead and into the library.

Past the doors, the three couldn't believe their eyes. As if a building can get anymore grand… The three thought collectively, gasping in awe and wonder. The interior, although melding into a more traditional and primitive stone and wooden structures, were nonetheless just as beautiful and detailed. The corridors of bookcases seemingly stretched all the way to the ends. The three heads followed the bookcases and their heads eventually turned upwards, marvelling at impossibly detailed paintings covering the ceilings.

"C….Can I help you with anything?" An old and raspy voice greeted as they turned around, an elderly Devilukean librarian stood before them, his face barely visible by the books stacked in his arms.

"A-Ah, just browsing…" Gid answered.

"Well… young one, is there anything in particular….. that you're looking?" The librarian asked.

"How about books on warfare?" The black haired Devilukean raised.

"Warfare? Then you'd want to read 'The Art of War' or 'Deviluke – The Expansion Era', they're classics in the History section just over there." The librarian pointed with his tail.

"H-How about books on holy knights or swordsmanship?" Zastin asked.

"Probably in the fantasy section?" Gid joked, earning himself a nonchalant shove by Zastin.

"A…Actually, you'll find everything you need under history as well." The librarian pointed, a flabbergasted Gid laughed at by Zastin. "It's been a while since anyone's asked for anything from the… History section. I…I'd recommend you start with…. Oh yes, 'The Warrior's Manuscript' by the First Knight of Deviluke Veloth himself, 'The Song of Knights' – a classic, and 'Honour-bound' – written and transposed by Veloth's brotherhood long past."

"Now… how about you… yo-young lady?" The elderly asked.

"I… actually, I would like to know where your public computer terminals are." Sephie questioned, much to the surprise of everyone.

"A-Ah, those would be at the most left of the library, upstairs." The librarian directed. "I believe these should help you get started, please do let me know if you need anything else."

"You're very kind, thank you!" Sephie gave a light bow at the Devilukean as he smiled and continued on his way.

Finally left to their own devices, the three stood around amongst the sparsely populated library. "Let's grab what we want and meet at a table in… fifteen minutes?"

"Sounds good."

As per the instructions from the kind librarian, the Charmian paced up the marble white stairs, reaching the second level of the vast archive of books and turned left. She paced herself as she held up her arm, pressing a button on her arm bracer.

"Yes, Lady Sephie?" Atlas replied on command.

"I'm about to gain access to a terminal at the Deviluke Great Library. That's extra processing power you need to decrypt more of father's message right?" The pink head asked.

"Given sufficient time and enslavement of enough terminal servers, it's highly probable that more of the message could be revealed." The Artificial Intelligence replied.

"Great." Sephie huffed in determination as she sat herself down by a computer terminal. Running her hands on the console keyboard, the holographic screen before her lit up. "Atlas I have access to a terminal, what do I do?" She asked, nervously looking around to avoid any prying eyes among the wooden bookshelves.

"Hold out the bracer sensor to the terminal." The AI instructed, and Sephie complied. The device strapped on her forearm emanated several green arcs of light.

"Free port in proximity detected, uplink…..successful. Enslaving terminals…" On cue, the screen before Sephie lit up in flickering neon codes that were unknown to her, but she could sense that something was working. "A wireless slave uplink has been established, the main processing farm on your spaceship will make use of the library terminals' power to continue decryption."

"Thank you, Atlas." Sephie sighed, immediately standing up from the terminal, walking away before arousing any suspicion.

"You're welcome, Lady Sephie."

'I should probably regroup with Zastin and G-…' She thought of Gid as she stopped in her steps, leaning against a bookshelf on her right, her cheeks turning ever the softest rose. 'Why am I like this… when I'm thinking about him… I'll never see them again after today anyways.'

Bam! "Man, are history books always this heavy?" Gid huffed, dropping his pile of three down onto the table. This earned him several annoyed glares from other Devilukeans sitting in his vicinity.

"You're complaining?" Zastin groaned out, setting his even larger pile of books on the table, but doing it carefully as to make minimal noise.

"Wow, Never took you for a bookworm~" Gid teased lightly, surprised as he sat down.

"T-There's nothing wrong with that…?"

"Don't listen to him, Zastin." Sephie complimented as she appeared next to the two, taking her seat in between the boys. "Knowledge is power, after all."

"Oh is that why you don't have any books with you, princess?" Gid quipped right back, earning him a sly chuckle from Zastin and a flustered Sephie.

"Humph!" Sephie huffed dignifiedly. "As perhaps the last Charmian of royal bloodline, father made sure to provide me with an essential education, even as we were on the run."

The first half of the day was spent in the library, where the teens read up as much as they could, on Deviluke, on the world.

"These manuscripts… They're sword forms recorded by the great knight Veloth himself, Deviluke's first knight." Zastin exclaimed excitedly, practically drooling over the old books. "I'm borrowing all of these…: He could barely contain himself as he flipped through the pages. "Whao! Look at this one…" Gid and Sephie giggled at his antics.

"Deviluke: The Age of Enlightenment, this ought to be a good read." Gid commented. "Did you know, way back in the first era, it was well known that almost all intelligent life originated from once single race."

"Surprised you didn't know that." Sephie quipped.

"Uh huh," Gid paid no mind as he continued reading, "It was said that this long-forgotten race, spread out across the stars, eventually lost contact with each other and evolved in their own ways. These different colonies adapted to their environments and evolved into the races we know today." Gid read on, fascinated. "In the modern era, there are many races spread out in the galaxy. But there are notably four prominent intelligent humanoid races in the Milky Way: The Memozorians of the Sand, the Kirarians of the Light, The Titans of Old and The Beasts of Akaviri – Which comprises of many lesser races: the Balkeans Reptilian races for instance. Or the Dolphinians."

"Well what about us? And Charmians?" Zastin had a lot of questions.

"Then there're the Trinity races, these three races: The Charmians, The Humans, and finally The Devilukeans – are part of a category known as the 'Trinity', these three races are thought to be the closest to resembling the image of God, or at least the original common ancestors anyway – genetically speaking."

"I wonder who's involved in the Great War…" Gid trailed off, soaking all the history in.

"That book… does it mention anything more about the Charmians?" Sephie asked.

"Uhh… let's see…" Gid flipped through the pages. "Old Charmia… nothing much… the race had only ever colonised their motherplanet, those that left their home lived amongst the stars as nomads."

"Well…" The Charmian said, "Then I'll need to start searching for my fellow Charmians, starting with Planet Deviluke."

"Good luck with that, because Zastin and I are joining the army."

"W-What?!" The young swordsman shrieked. "En-Enlisting in the army, are you serious?" Zastin asked.

"That was what the General offered me, and you too Zastin." Gid pointed out, "He said… if we want to join up and help with the war effort, we can find him in the main barracks this afternoon."

"Does Deviluke recruit child soldiers now?" Sephie criticised.

"No nothing like that." The prideful Devilukean told her off, "General Gigor said we can enlist and train under this special program, until such a time comes when we're old enough to official enlist and deploy."

"This… seems like the right thing to do…" Zastin seemed to be deep in thought. "I mean, sooner or later we will help fight for Deviluke right?"

"Right." Gid thumped the desk, "I'll rise through the ranks and become king!" He exclaimed. Unbeknownst to Gid, Zastin and Sephie exchanged a knowing look. 'He's on the right path.' They both knew it.

"What will you do now?" Gid asked curiously, "Don't suppose you'll join the army with us ay~" Gid joked, but a tinge of foreign feeling started to dwell within him.

"I… I suppose not." She trailed off, averting her gaze from the boy.

"Well in the meantime, let's go to the Barracks and sign up!" Gid said, practically dragging Zastin away.

"Wait! At least let me borrow my books first!"

*Primary Barracks…*

"Thank you Staff Sargent, you're dismissed." General Gigor commanded from his chair, closing the large ledger on his desk.

"Yes sir." With a fist held over his heart, the man gave a slight bow and turned around, marching out of the tent. As the Sargent flipped open the tent flaps, he stepped aside to allow three children in.

"Ahh, if it isn't our future king, and his future queen! And our tall knight to be!" The general pleasantly exclaimed, much to the teenagers' embarrassment. "Gotta be honest, I wasn't sure you'd actually come." He said as he leaned back into his seat.

"I'd sooner starve than to become his queen." Sephie quipped.

"And I'd sooner give up the crown that be her king." Gid retorted just as wittily, much to the General's chuckle.

"You said we could join the army. Well, here we are!" Gid huffed triumphantly, hands by his waist. "Tell me what I need to do." He told the General.

"Very well. After we're concluded here. You'll need to head to the enlistment camp and officially enrol. Just tell one of the officers there that I General Gigor sent you, they'll make sure you find bedding. You are to report back to me thereafter, am I understood."

"Alrighty-"

"It's 'Yes Sir' from now on young one." The man warned, his chair creaking. "I will train the civilian out of you, see if we can't turn you into a proper sons of Deviluke."

Gid pursed his lips in half excitement and half anxiously, while Zastin turned to Sephie.

"What will you do, Sephie-san?"

It was a good question, one that Sephie pondered over for the majority of the rest of the day. Having been dismissed from the General's barracks, the teens reported to the officers and true to the General's words, were shown a humble cabin to sleep in, furnished with a twin metallic locker for their belongings and a simple toilet (a luxury in the army). Being told that they were to report to the General the next day, the thankful teens exited the encampment and meandered around the Deviluke capital for the rest of the day.

They drifted in all the districts of the capital, soaking in its vibrant culture and progress. The foundation of long standing and old architecture of the city melting with technology of the modern ages combined to become a marvel to behold. What an overwhelming sight it would've been, to see markets and the civilians going on about their daily chores and errands, whilst above them spaceships and flying shuttles flocked around eerily moderately high up from the houses below, casting darting shadows on them.

Along the way, Sephie got distracted with the aroma of the street food stalls that were strategically placed at certain points on the main roads, attracting attention. Gid and Zastin did not complain at the prospect of proper food. Grilled fish kebabs and other assorted meats filled their stomach. The trio had never tasted food that good before.

"Old man, this is really good!" Gid complimented, nonchalantly waving the small wooden stick around.

"Glad you enjoyed it, want to try another this time? I recommend the glazed boar meat, freshly hunted today."

"Yes please!" Zastin chimed in, several silver coins in his hands.

"How about the missus, what do you want?"

The question seemed to have fallen on deaf ears however, as the girl's eyes reflected a seemingly empty gaze. She was deep in thought, a question to an entirely different problem. What will she do from here? How will she bid farewell?

Hearing the faraway mutters between Gid and the shopkeeper, Sephie visibility jolted in surprise as Zastin tapped her on the arm.

"We passed a blacksmith shop somewhere before, I didn't get a chance to get a good look at their shiny armours, lets go!" The little knight chippered excitedly, running along.

Sephie sighed with a small smile. The spontaneity and carefree-ness of the heterochromic Devilukean was something she truly envied.

"You look like skin and bones. Here, have some." The raven-haired teen offered another stick of meat to the hooded girl, who offered the smallest of smiles in return as she accepted it.

"We better find Zastin…" Gid said as the couple walked along the buzzing street, in an awkward silence that they weren't used to.

'I'm along… with him.' Sephie thought, sneaking a shy glance at Gid through the small tears of her dark green cowl. 'Why am I hot and bothered all of a sudden…'

The pair stopped gradually came to a cheap clothing stall by the side of a main street. Sephie wanted a veil, to cover her face just in case her hood was pulled down. Gid supported the idea, thinking back amusingly to their initial meeting with Zastin.

"How does this look?"

"Look at me." Gid suggested, guiding her head with a finger until she fully turned to the boy, a gesture which made the girl blush moderately. The boy's red eyes met Sephie's hot pink ones through the thin light green veil. Staring into the boy's eyes had proven to be a new fascination to her, never before has she gazed into a male's eyes without him going out of control. No, this was a new feeling, a new sensation.

Almost mesmerising.

"It's perfect. We-we should find Zastin now!" Gid stammered dismissingly, having staring into her eyes for too long. A small blush adorned his cheeks as he ingrained the details of her face into his brain, her perfectly proportioned face, smooth jawline, a nose not too large and small – and at the right height. Her lashes not too thin and not too far apart. And her eyes.

Her eyes.

Perfect indeed.

"Sir, we've located the two suspects."

"Pull up camera three on the big screen and get a closer look, I'm not reporting anything to the higher ups unless it's the real thing. Remember, national security is at stake here." The man known as Puloman instructed, standing up from his chair, his face lit up blue by the reflection of the wall sized monitor.

On the monitor was the view of a busy street from a streetlight angle, focusing on a young grey haired Devilukean, sword strapped to his back, a small silver couter wrapping around his right elbow. "That's him alright… let's bag and tag him, you stay here and update us on the location of the other one."

Author's notes:

Hey all, I know its been a long while, hope everyone is doing well. Sorry for dropping off the map, just so preoccoupied with study and work life and recently moved houses, barely had time to do anything. But I'm trying my best to pick up this story again! So get keen! Everything story point is pretty much mapped out.

I'm picking things back up with a slightly shorter chapter haven't not written for so long, hope you all enjoyed it nontheless.

Let me hear your thoughts in the review section!

And as always, more chapters still to come!

Reviews are highly appreciated!

Criticisms are also accepted.