Life cannot exist without ordinance. Good, evil…death, life-equipoise must be present in the universe. Such is the rule of the Ethereal Council, a group of primordial beings created by the Architect to safeguard the very fabric of existence. But the balance has been vanquished. The question is, what kind of balance?

Some say that the Sentinel of Destruction, Perseus, disrupted the balance by his ignorance and thirst for demolition. But those claims were in vain because, even the Sentinel knows the price of disrupting the balance of the universe. It was something far greater that would pose a threat not only to the Sentinels but to the whole Ethereal Council.

Apart from Perseus, what of other Sentinels, fearless henchman of the Council’s will? What of Orpheus, Anastasius… and Chronos? To know those names, you must first know another.

Arnoir- a violent race created from star dust who sought enjoyment in war and slaughter. The Arnoirians put many innumerable worlds to the sword, and reduced them to nothingness. But four of their own became exhausted of the bloodshed, fearing that they would jeopardize the Balance.

And so, a treaty was made: The Four would be in service to the Council, in exchange for unthinkable power. Therefore, the four Sentinels were formed. Now, let us go back in time, when the Four were merely serving the corrupted king, the ruler of the Arnoirian race named Runedath. He was the first to be created, and the strongest. Since he was the first of the Arnoirians and also the strongest, he became their king. He prophesized how he was chosen by the Council and how he receives tasks from them. Everyone believed him, and whoever decided to question that didn't end well.

The Arnoirians went from realm to realm, killing and demolishing anything that Runedath said was a threat to the universe. Everyone saw joy and excitement from destroying creation itself. As they killed another race Anastasius was sitting down and gazing at the ruins that they left on the planet. The light that was hitting his face was blocked by a person. When he looked up, it was his older brother.

‘’ What are you doing, brother? ‘’ asked Chronos as he came down to sit next to him. The wind blowing in their faces as buildings were falling down in the distance.

‘’Thinking.’’ said Anastasius.

The answer puzzled Chronos, so he asked:

''What do you mean? ’’

‘’ I am thinking of how much longer do we have to slay the innocent realms from the Creation? How much longer do we have to hear their agonizing cries? Don’t you get tired of the slaughter? It just keeps going on and on without breaks. It feels like we being used by Runedath for his own personal gain.'' said Anastasius.

’Do you really believe that?’’ said Chronos with a stern look on his face.’’ Those we kill are the ones that are imperilling the Balance of the universe. Our king serves the Ethereal Council. Every command that he gives us, that’s the Will of the Council, and it is absolute. It does get tiring, but we have to do it otherwise we will all disappear.''

’'Oh, so you just believe what ever he says, ha?'’ asked Anastasius with an angry face.'' I do not want to be a slave to him, and neither should any of us.''That shocked Chronos since he never saw him angry. In his eyes, he was always smiling and laughing. He answered.

‘’ Yes i believe everything he says. He is the oldest out of all of us, and he was chosen by the Council. But if you are so worried, I shall ask the king about this conquest that looks like it has no end. Come on, let’go home.’’ said Chronos as they left.

Tomorrow, that morning, Chronos was thinking a lot about what his brother said. At first, he thought nothing of it, but as time went on, he thought about all the realms they slaughtered, about how the people were claiming their innocence, and they claimed they did nothing wrong. He started to question his own beliefs and his loyalty to the king. After a while, he got enough courage to go see the king and question his decisions. As he was walking towards the palace where the king resides he entered the hall, he felt uneasiness as he was walking towards the throne room. With each step he felt nauseous, his heart was beating so fast he thought it was going to burst out of his chest. He didn’t know why this is happening. He never felt that kind of feeling from his king. Furthermore, he knew something was wrong, but he didn’t know what. As he entered the room, the king grinned at him and says,

‘’Welcome Chronos, my loyal servant.’’ His smile was even wider than before.’’ What brings you here?’’ asked the king.

Chronos looked him in the eyes and slowly started to kneel, before him. His whole body was shaking until he broke the eye contact.

‘’Greetings my king, I wanted to d-discuss something with you If I can of course.’’stuttered Chronos with fear in his voice. Runedath realized that he was feeling afraid, and that pleased his ego very much.

‘’Anything for my loyal servant’’ the king chuckles.

‘’I wanted to ask, do you really serve the Ethereal Council? Don’t you think that we will imperil the Balance from all the realms we slaughtered? I don’t think the Council will want that to happen, right my lord?

The kings' expression changed. He was confused on why would one of his most loyal servants ask him that kind of question. He didn't answer the question and yet asked him one instead, and Chronos knew that he messed up.

'’You dare question me Chronos?! Who told you that you have the right to question me? Do you think that I, the king of Arnoirians, would ever lie?'' as he said that, Runedath stood up from his throne and slowly started approaching Chronos.

'' One thing that i hate is when someone says that I am wrong or that my decisions are bad.'' he grabbed him by and hair and asked him.'' Do you think I am wrong? Answer me!'' he yelled.

‘’No my king. I would never doubt your absolute decisions, and I would never question your authority. I would never do that!!’’ said Chronos as the king was staring into his soul.

'' That is what I like to hear. I act as the Council commands. Try to question my decisions again, see what happens to you, now get out of my sight.'' what made Chronos feel uncomfortable was the way he was grinning the entire time as he spoke. He immediately realized that something was of, but he wasn't sure what is.

‘’As you wish, my lord.’’mutter Chronos quietly.

As soon as he left, he felt relieved. His heart was beating very quickly, his body drenched in sweat and his whole body tremoring. As he was coming down the stairs, he heard someone shout his name. When he turned, he saw his brothers.

‘’Hey, Chronos!’’ shouted Anastasius. Beforehand, Anastasius explained what was the reason that he went inside the throne room and how Chronos wanted to question the king. Orpheus and Perseus thought that Anastasius went insane by the things he said, but after some time it started to make sense to them.

‘’What happened in there? Did you ask the king?'' Asked Anastasius as soon as he saw him.Chronos looked like he was lost in his own thoughts, and he didn't answer his brother's question. They looked at each other and knew that something was of.

'' Hey!'' Perseus shouted. The shout was enought to bring him back to his senses and said;

'' Yes?!''

‘’Did you talk with the king? What’s up with that terrified look on your face, and why are you spacing out? Did something happen?'' asked Orpheus.

‘' Yes i did and i think that Anastasius was right for suspecting the king. As i was walking towards the throne room, i felt this weird uneasiness and discomfort that i never felt before for some reason. When he saw me, he and a smile on his face and asked me why did i come. Asked the questiona nd his whole demeanour changed. It felt like he was staring into my soul. I cannot explain it.’’ said Chronos.'' He told me to never question him again nor his decisions.''

'' Hm, that is odd. Why would he be so angry over a simple question like that.''

'' He is very egotistical, so that could explain why he reacted the way he did. what do you think Chronos?'' asked Orpheus.

'' I am not sure, but i am certain that it wasn't his ego being hurt. I think it was something else because i felt a peculiar power coming from him. A different presence per se.''

‘’What the hell are you talking about?’’ asked Perseus.

'’I can’t really explain but it felt like his powers changed. Like he has new powers and i felt negativity coming from him.’’ said Chronos.

'' Well, one way to find out is to spy on him, but that will be difficult because they are guards in front of his throne room that never leave. I never understood why would he need them in the first place. He is tough to hurt, let alone kill. From now on, we will keep a close eye on the king. We must see if he does actually serve the Council as he claims.'' said Orpheus.

As they were talking, someone approached them from behind. It was Arollan. Arollan is basically a pet for the king. Not a single Arnoirian likes him. He is always close to the king since he fears him the most and he constantly feeds his ego which is one of the reason why the king keeps him around.

'' Oh? Did i hear this right? You want to spy on your own king? How disrespectful.'' said Arollan.

When the brothers saw him, all of them exhaled. His presence alone made them annoyed.

'' What do you want Arollan?'' asked Chronos.

'' Nothing really, i was just listening to your beautiful story and if i heared you correctly, you want to spy on our king?''

'' And what of it?'' said Perseus.

'' Well i do not know. But let us see how to king will react when he hears that four of his most loyal servants are trying to spy on him.''

As he went towards the palace to inform Runedath about the brothers plan, Chronos pulled out his dagger and placed it next to his neck.

''Take one more step, i dare you.''

Arollan jumped when he saw the dagger and started fearing for his life. He alone cannot not as he is very frail and weak.

'' I am sick of your attitude Arollan, everyone is. Unless you want to cooperate i have no problem with ending your life right here right now, and i will be making everyone a huge favor.''

'' Alright, Alright. I will do what ever you ask.''

''Very well.'' said Chronos as he removed the dagger from his neck.

In order to not get caught, the brothers made a plan together with Arollan. Each of them would go into the throne room everyday to see if something is of. Arollans role was to simply remove the guards or to distract them enough so that they are able to get in. Chronos was the one that went into the room most of the time because he is the most skillful. One day, it was Perseuses turn to went into the throne room. When he entered, Runedath was already in there so he hid immediately. From behind the pillar he heard.

‘’Hmm, this one... No ...what about this one.. Yes, this is the one. Look at the amount of energy this world has’’ the king chuckled’’ If I destroy this world, then He could consume all of that energy.’’ he said.

‘’What is he mumbling about? Who is talking about? And what the hell does he mean by ‘’consume all that energy?’’ then Perseus realized that the king was being manipulated by some strange power, a power he has never seen before. As he was questioning what the king was talking about, a scary person appeared near the king.

‘’ Oh, welcome. Long time no see.’’ the king chuckled at the person.

Once the person appeared, Perseus was paralysed with fear. He felt like he couldn't breath because he thought of what would happen if he was found out. As he peaked around the pillar he said.

'’ Who the hell is that?’’

 

End of chapter 1