Chapter One: Absolute Peace
True peace is achieved when all mouths are shut, all eyes are closed, and all ideas are one. Peace often has a positive connotation, one of order and purity. However, no matter how bright an idea may seem, no matter the paragon of thought, there shall always be a darkness lurking within, such is the law of philosophy. Peace and freedom are often thought of as interchangeable, two similar words no different from one another. However, in the multi-layered landscape of all that is power and politics, they are two separate entities. War brings peace, not freedom, never freedom. And there shall always be strife in the aftermath of war.
In Eques, a land of steel and steam, peace had been achieved many centuries ago after their war, a war that decided the fate of all of its people. There had been two immortal rulers once, sent by the heavens; two sisters, Solara and Lunara. Their rule was just and peaceful enough for one to call it paradise. However, these two sisters were often at odds with one another from a philosophical standpoint. The older sister, Solara, believed in absolute peace— that controls needed to be placed on those within their kingdom. The other, Lunara, believed in freedom, and the notion that all people are created equal in Eques and deserve free thought and speech. Their rivalry turned into bitter resentment over their ideological differences, and resentment soon boiled over into hatred, and then hatred became war. While Lunara and her followers fought hard, the Queen of Sol emerged victorious in the end, and Lunara was soon forgotten in the centuries to come, lost to time.
Time has a nasty habit of wearing away at the past, and those with power and the resources to turn time in their favor, do so without hesitation. In Eques, it was outlawed to ever speak of the war, to speak out in general against the monarchy in public. Such an action was high treason— punishable by death. Through fear, peace was achieved, and through peace, unity was achieved. A unity of thought has its upsides. For instance, technology blossoms. No longer did the world fight with swords and spears nor bows and arrows like in days of old, they fought with machines. Machines powered by nuclear-steam reactors, soldiers covered head to toe in suits of technologically advanced armor. The world entered an Age of Enlightenment. And through this, ideas began to travel, thoughts became individualized once again, to the government's dismay. No matter how hard you try to kill an idea, it always resurfaces. It may take years, perhaps a millennia, but it always will. "Freedom" was a word that soon traveled across the land, and after two hundred years of peace, Queen of Sol's authority was challenged once again. And it all began in the capital city, Illuminare. That is where this story begins...
"Mr. Jennings?! This is Officer Cromwell!" A husky voice shouted behind Abner's door, rousing him from his slumber.
His younger brother, Rooker, had been gone all night, off to hang out with the Rusters again, the local gang of street thugs. Abner didn't worry at first, it was common for a teenager to get embroiled in a little mischief. Though, perhaps the rebellious nature of those street toughs rubbed off on him in a way— caused him to not think straight. Either way, Rooker was commonly a headache for the local police whenever he vandalized some building. Granted, he was smart enough not to do it on an important building like a police station or a hospital; doing that would get you twenty years in jail with no parole. He was a small-scale graffiti artist. Perhaps he got that artistic side from his mother.
Abner rolled off his bed and checked the time; around 6:30 am, an hour and a half before work. Though luckily, it was Sunday and this was his day off, sparing him further stress. He sighed and walked over to his mirror, placing his glasses over his emerald green eyes. He ran his hands through his short indigo hair in a crude attempt to make it look somewhat presentable; he imagined his father beating him over the head for tardiness in appearance. Another knock at the door hastened him, and yet another one made him give up entirely on looking good. He raced downstairs and opened the door, coming face to face with the embarrassed mug of Rooker as he was held at the back of his collar by the police officer.
"Hey, Abby..." Rooker grinned awkwardly as the policeman tossed him into his apartment. "Ow!"
"Your brother is causing an awful ruckus in this neighborhood, Mr. Jennings," Officer Cromwell huffed as he handed him a ticket with a hefty fine, triple the usual amount. "If he was a year older, I'd have him sent to the Outskirts by now!"
"Love you too, Bob..." Rooker muttered from the couch behind Abner and smirked as he combed his blue hair back with his comb.
"Tell your brother to shape up, or else!" Officer Cromwell warned the two brothers as he gave Abner a secondary, ludicrously pricey bill, one that he had never seen before called 'Rebellious Symbolism'.
"I'm sorry, Officer Cromwell, it won't happen again." Abner nodded as he closed his door and turned to his brother, who sat on his couch chewing bubblegum with his feet on the coffee table. "Hopefully..." Abner groaned as he sat down beside him and totaled the tickets. "One-thousand for the first one... and two-damn-thousand for the second. What the hell did you do this time, Rook?"
"I just spray-painted a stupid thing I saw the other day on the general store, that's it. I don't get it either... they were pretty serious about it. I thought Bob was gonna whack me over the head with a baton for a moment— gave me a lecture about 'disruptive ideas', it was weird..." Rooker explained as he leaned back on the couch and fastened his leather jacket.
"What 'stupid thing', Rooker? I need to know what you did exactly..." Abner demanded his brother as he grabbed a pen and a flipbook off of the shelf next to his door. "Show it to me."
Abner watched as his brother sketched a rough doodle of the strange symbol in question. It was a circle colored in black with a piece left white near the top in the shape of a downwards crescent. A sword also was thrust downwards through the circle. The symbol was familiar to Abner, and he had seen it somewhere before. The peculiar crescent was the most familiar aspect of all amongst all elements of the design.
"Huh..." Abner scratched his head, then adjusted his glasses as he squinted at the drawing. "Rook, where'd you see this?"
"I saw it on the back of a lamp post yesterday. I have no idea what it is... but it looks cool, so I just-. You know, did what I do best ..." Rooker shook his head and closed his yellow eyes. "Listen, I fucked up, I'm sorry. It won't happen again, alright?"
"It better not, Rooker. You cost too much money for a nurse, and I don't have the energy to deal with this bullshit, okay?" Abner scolded his brother as he tossed the sketch in the kitchen garbage and looked in the freezer for breakfast. "I only get Sunday off, and I just want to spend the day relaxing, and-."
"Wait, did you say Sunday?!" Rooker's face lit up as he jumped up off the couch. "Abby, today is The Solar Festival! Don't you remember? It's at nine."
"Ah, shit... yeah," Abner rolled his eyes as he grabbed a box of cereal from a kitchen cupboard above and placed it on his island. Attendance of the festival was mandatory, and if you did not attend, a heavy fine was issued. "Listen, my anger for you is pretty damn fresh right now, but we're going because I don't want to be in more debt to the government. But by no means can you dick around at the festival, understand? This is not an excuse for what just happened. And above all else, do not draw that symbol anywhere, or I'll-."
"Yeah, Abby, I get it... calm your tits," Rooker grumbled as he sat down on a stool in front of the island and grabbed one of the bowls Abner had set out for him. "Wheat flakes again? Why can't we ever get some eggs nowadays?"
"Because poultry farmers in the north are getting arrested for refusing to work, that's why. You'll just have to tough until they get some sense knocked into em'." Abner answered him bluntly as he poured himself some dry, flavorless cereal.
"Why do you think they're doing it? Going on strike like that?" Rooker wondered.
"I don't know... they're just unhappy I guess," Abner tried to dodge the question; he didn't have the patience like his father had when it came to dealing with Rooker's questions. "They aren't thinking straight is all. Listen, can we talk about something else? I've heard enough rebellious crap for one morning."
"Oh? So then should we talk about Amelia?" Rooker snickered mischievously as he plopped a spoonful of cereal in his mouth. "She'll be there at the festival..."
"We're just co-workers at the hospital, Rook. There's nothing more to it than that," Abner said, taking a spoonful from his bowl as well. "Besides..."
"Besides what? She doesn't have a boyfriend, you know that. C'mon, you're just afraid to talk to her, admit it..." Rooker said as he finished off his cereal; he was usually a fast eater.
"Oh, what do you know about dating?! You haven't even had a girlfriend!" Abner growled back at his brother as he took his dish and tossed it into the sink.
"Yet... I'm just getting warmed up for it, Abby," Rooker grinned confidently as he grabbed an apple from the fruit basket next to him.
"Cheeky little prick..." Abner scowled as he washed the dishes.
As he tended to his chore, Abner's mind wandered off for a moment. He knew he had seen that symbol in his past, he knew it. It was just a matter of him digging through his memories to solve the mystery. Then, it donned upon him. He had seen it engraved on the chest containing his father's belongings— the old wooden one he kept under his bed. Though, he hadn't ever opened it before, since his dad was such a secretive one. He couldn't really bring himself to open the chest after all the years that had passed since he died. But after five years, and the added curiosity of that strange symbol, perhaps it was finally time to open the box.
"Hey, Rook, I'm gonna get dressed, alright?" Abner said to his brother as he ran upstairs. "You just sit tight, okay?"
"Whatever..." Rooker sighed as he jumped onto the couch again and closed his eyes.
Abner opened his door and was immediately greeted by the photo he kept on his nightstand of himself, Rooker, and his father together at a Solar Festival in front of the vibrantly colored Ferris wheel. He smiled for a moment as the warm memory of that day at the festival returned to him, but the warmness of it soon faded away as he thought of what had happened only moments after the picture had been taken. "It was an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage," the doctors said, "There was no predicting it would happen". After the photo was shot, his father dropped onto the ground and convulsed. A blood clot in his brain caused him to have a stroke, and he was dead before he even could reach the hospital.
Abner sighed as he reached under his bed to grab the box containing all that was his father, and it was heavier than he anticipated. It had been so long, he had forgotten how much the box weighed. In fact, until that day, he hadn't even thought of the box at all. It was just another thing to forget to Abner, another memory to be tossed away along with his father. Just looking at the odd symbol on the lid of the box made him angry. Why did he just up and die like that? Was there any way he could've known? Abner shook his head as he looked up at the photo once last time before he tossed it aside to sit in his filled laundry basket. With another long sigh, Abner clicked the latch on the chest open, and he peered inside to see what his dad put in the box.
To his surprise, there were only three items stored inside. The first was a new photo of his father that he had never seen before, one where he stood beside a smiling woman. It looked as if they were in their early twenties, around Abner's age, and they both were eating cotton candy together at a festival holding hands. And they stood in front of the same Ferris wheel where he had died years later. What was more peculiar was that they both had rings on, wedding rings. Was this his mother? Upon further inspection, Abner noticed the same circle with the crescent and sword engraved on their rings.
"What the..." Abner raised an eyebrow at the last two items in the box; the two black hilts of sabers. They too had the circular symbol etched into the brown leather of the grip. He looked back at the picture, then back to the blades. "Were these yours...?"
Abner didn't realize it, but he was being watched, like everyone else in Eques at every waking moment. A tiny camera was implanted into the face of his clock behind him, and it relayed a video to the Domestic Intelligence Agency of Sol, the secret police for all of the country. Viewing the video of Abner opening the box and inspecting it on playback was an agent of DIAS, and when he uncovered the sensitive information, he didn't hesitate to pass it on to his superior. Up the chain of command it went, until it reached the head of DIAS himself, Director Armis, a high-ranking prince of Eques, and the most ruthless loyalist of Queen Solara. He wore a white two-piece suit, typical of DIAS agents, and his pale complexion went along well with his dark blue hair and cyan eyes.
"Tell me... who is this man?" Director Armis wondered from his desk as he reviewed the footage given to him by his secretary on his computer.
"I am unsure, Director, but it was given to me just moments ago... should I send for the Templars to deal with the problem, sir?" Director Armis' secretary asked as she drew closer to him.
"Send them at night. I want him and his brother taken out silently and swiftly once the festival is over." Director Armis ordered his secretary. "I don't want any panic. Panic spawns questions, and we don't answer questions."
Author's Note
Hope you enjoyed! I'd hate to info dump you all right off the bat, so I'll give you all the fine details of this world as I go. I probably won't post another chapter for a long time. This is just an experimental project, nothing more. I'll see where it takes me. 
