Chapter 1 - Upheaval

I stood upon the gleaming balcony of my fortress, proud and beaming with joy as I looked upon my kingdom. Adrielle is a truly magnificent metropolis, bustling with the sound of industrial improvement. Our flying ships, called "Adamants," were constantly taking off and illuminating the sky. The great walls of the city protect us from any threat. To think that I, king Tremale, represent every aspect of this extravagent kingdom is still difficult to believe. I sometimes find myself thinking that I'm not meant to be king. I am still young, only eighteen, and I have no wife. Have I ever left Adrielle? That's funny. A better question would be "Have I ever been outside of Fortress Adrigone? I haven't even been outside of my own castle, if that's any surprise. What a great kingdom. Too bad I've never even been within twenty feet of a market. Or ridden on an Adamant. That's my dream, I want to fly and experience what this world is truly like. Unfortunately, that's impossible, and I have a council meeting to attend now. Oh joy. I turned away from the picture-perfect view of the city and began walking across the hallway leading to the exit of my room

I proceeded to the meeting room. I wondered what this was all about, because meetings are usually only held under certain important conditions. I glanced across the room and saw many familiar faces. First, there was Alonzo, dark haired and very thin. He gave me a fake smile and continued his conversation with Drake. Believe it or not, Drake was actually my friend. Probably the only real friend I have. Drake is the true power of this kingdom, not me. He insures that the people have food, and he gives our military its orders. That's right, he basically does my job for me. I continued examining the room and saw a ton of other important people, all with serious looks on their faces. What was going on? Why am I, the king, so clueless? I decided it was time to find some answers. I approached Drake and began my interrogation. "Drake, what's going on, and why does everyone seem so anxious?" "Your Majesty, forgive me for not explaining this situation sooner." He began. "You know of the Inverts, correct?" Inverts. Inverts. Of course I knew of them. They're the reason life is so unbearable. I'm not sure how to explain what they are. They're death. Despair. Hate. They're the scum that befouls our very world. I gave Drake a look that apparently got the point across. "Your highness, they're in the kingdom! Somehow, a few managed to infiltrate the Mauhn Barriers," he continued. Those barriers, those are our only defense against the Inverts. I'm still unsure of how they're made or what these barriers do, but it keeps those filthy atrocities out of this city. "Then we must fight, Commander Drake," I said. Drake looked at me and shook his head. "I know that, your majesty, but tell me, how do you fight a monster that can completely conceal itself? Hide within our very own bodies, and kill without mercy." Whoa, wait. That was news to me. I knew Inverts were bad, but, could they actually take control of a body? There wasn't time to find out. Drake excused himself and rushed out of the meeting room, apparently to alert more people of the situation.

I looked around the room again, but with the new-found feeling that anybody in the room could be infested with an Invert, slowly having their soul eaten away. I began to feel sick. I looked up and realized that a girl was approaching me. At least, I thought she was. What am I talking about, of course she's a girl. That's how pathetic I am. "Good evening, Tremale," she said. I felt a little uneasy. I don't know if it was because she was a girl, or because she was a pretty girl. She had long black hair, and her eyes were a fierce green. I was going to have some problems. "I-its nice to, I mean, the ple-, I'm king Tremale." Wow, I don't think I could have done that any worse. She fell quiet for a moment, but then she laughed. "I'm Nabooru," she began. "And, you, king Tremale, are just who I'm looking for." Well, that just about did it. I was speechless. Why would she need to see me? It's not like I do anything... "Your majesty, I've come to inform you of the severe danger you're in." That's informative. "Look, I know about the Inverts and-" I was cut off. "It's not about that. Do you know who I am?" she asked. "Why, of course," I said confidently. I had no idea of who she was, truthfully. "You're a liar, my liege. You would do well to listen to you conscience a little more." Ouch, But how did she know? "Tremale," she said. "I probably know more aobut you than you know about yourself." How did she know what I was thinking? Maybe its time I started getting some answers for myself. "Look, you're really confusing me right now, it might be best if I just go attend to my duties as king." I started to turn away like I had somewhere to go. "Stop!" For a moment I thought Nabooru had just shouted, but once my logic kicked in, I realized it was a male voice. I looked past Nabooru towards a slightly inclined area of the room, just next to one of the exits. Drake was standing with his arms raised, each hand clutching a powerful military gun. The two handguns were capable of killing any normal person in a single shot. "What's going on Drake?" I raised my voice a tad bit higher than I had originally intended. Drake had an eerie smirk on his face. "Your highness, it's been a real pleasure faking friendship. Now that I've stolen pretty much every power you could have had, I'll be taking over your kingdom. And it's all thanks to your inexperience. I'm afraid I'll have to kill you now." What was going on? Nabooru was looking at me with an aura of sadness. Drake's smile grew as he pulled the trigger, first on the gun in his left hand, and then the right. The first bullet appeared to penetrate Nabooru's forehead. Before I could scream, everything began to go black.

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