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Arc Chronicles Preview
Chapter IXThe man I was following was a tourist. He obviously wasn't a local, otherwise, he'd know to avoid certain back alleys, like this. The guy turned around and glared at me. "Why the devil are you following me, boy?"Huh. He spoke English very well, but I could hear the slight touches of a French accent. Not the tone of the Lyorenaise accent, but the Aquroyan one. This man was from the Republic. I almost felt bad for what I was about to do, but who cared if he was a fellow countryman. I had a hard knot of hunger tying in me and I needed coin, not national relationships.I pointed to the back of the butcher's shop, where rancid fat was rotting on the ground. "I work there," I told him.The man frowned. He was well dressed like a gentleman, but his lighter skin marked him for what he was: not an Ashford. He didn't have the mannerisms of the Logresi gentry. Sure, he wore fine close, but he looked out of place in them. He adjusted his shirt with a frown and I could tell his waistco
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Chapter X"Here!" Kanade hissed, dropping one of those small round loaves of bread in front of me. It had been months since I found out my home had become an empire. Months since I had traded in the Aquroyan denari and sesterce and I was out of money and food. I didn't know how long it had been since the Dread Lord sent me to Mardale, but I hoped my thirteenth birthday would be coming soon. The cold knot of hungry twisting in my stomach was unbearable, but I didn't have a single ha'penny to my name.I stared at the loaf of bread, my mouth starting to water. At that moment, it looked better than anything I've ever had. The man who said hungry is the best spice was right.I wanted to take it... But Kanade was never one to share. I looked up at her, arms crossed, her crimson hair leaking down her hair like blood. Was this some kind of game? "You're not going to hit me if I take this, are you?"The last time I tried to take any of her food, she beat me again. I didn't have the Blues knife
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Chapter XI "Shipwreck?" Charles asked. He sounded horrified. Truly horrified, not the false sympathy I had come to expect from the priests of Olympus. "I'm sorry to hear that boy. I don't suppose you've been able to contact your family?" I shook my head. According to my old Republic, they were dead. "No. Our village was very small. We did not have much money..." There was a strange look in Charles's eyes. "Henry!" "Yes, apprentice priest?" "Take over for me." The older man sighed. "Apprentice priest, I am not here to coddle you. I was under the impression that I am the master priest." "Yet it was me, Jupiter chose to bless." There was a moment of awkward silence. Jupiter blessed him? Had he met the god before? How could this man know if Jupiter blessed him? "Make it quick," the older priest sighed. He took the spot Charles was in, and began to demand a prayer from the next street rat in line. Charles grabbed a long loaf of bread and told me to follow him. If he tried to make m
Arc Chronicles Euphemia
Euphemia Arc"We need cars to intercept!" Godfrey ordered into his comm.The car bumped into us again, harder this time. Damon grunted as he lost his balance and crashed down to the limo floor, banging his head against the table. I might have felt a little bad for him, given the stain of blood bubbling across his forehead, but it took all my strength to keep from being thrown down."Oh no!" Elena Ordel screamed. She pointed back out the window, and sure enough, three other identical cars were joining our pursuers."We have two more contacts!" Godfrey yelled. "They have come down from Fourth and H! Three identical contacts!""Understood, sir!" the officer on the other end said. "Head down J street, and take the first right."Godfrey pounded on the door. "Did you hear that?""Yes, sir!" the driver yelled back. The other two cars spread out on either side of us and increased their speed. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they were trying to box us in.They were right on our heel
Arc Chronicles Final Preview - Updated Chapter 1
Chapter IWhen the end came for me, I died how I lived: in the hospital. I've always been sick, even as a child. When I was born, I suffered from complications. I don't know the scientific word for it, but, my immune system was compromised in laymen's terms. Some kind of autoimmune system disease. I couldn't tell you what it was called if you asked me, the word was long and probably had a Latin root.I spent most of my free time in the hospital. As a child, I was in and out of the hospital all the time. The only place I spent more time than the hospital was school and what a miracle that was. It was the only part of my life that felt somewhat normal and even then, I had missed so much school because of this cursed hospital.More than once, my mother cried for me, blaming herself. She had given me this weak body and she apologized so much. Of course, it wasn't her fault. How could it be? My younger brother and sister didn't have this problem. It couldn't be my mother. I was just born u
Arc Chronicles Cal - Euph
Calixte Arc"Are you close with your sister, Princess Euphemia?" Agent Caron asked. From my window, I could see the military airport below. We were almost ready to descend. To be honest, the question came out of left field. I hadn't been expecting that."Yes. Euphy and I are very close."Agent Caron nodded. "I read a report concerning your sister, Your Highness. A troubling report.""Is she alright?""Indeed. I wouldn't say she is in immediate danger, but she's playing with fire."What does that mean? "How so?""She has invited Rachel Edgecombe to her colony. That was not wise move.""Who is Rachel Edgecombe?""Rachel is the Office of Secret Intelligence East Asia Regional Director.""That doesn't sound so bad.""If your sister was smart, she would have contacted the OSI Pacific Command directly, especially if she needed assistance.""Are you calling my sister stupid?"Agent Caron blinked and backtracked. "No. Not at all, Your Highness. I am merely saying that it was not the wisest co
Arc Chronicles Cal - Euph
Euphemia ArcFrom her files, the parts that weren't redacted, it had stated that she had been under observation for years. It didn't help that Rachel Edgecombe had come from a foreign nation and applied to join the OSI. As an imperial subject, it was her right to apply to the Office of Secret Intelligence, but she should have known she would have never been given any job of significant importance. She wouldn't have any hope for anything beyond a desk job, pushing papers of the most low-level officers.Yet she applied anyway. The recruit that made contact informed her as much. From his first reports, he recommended that she seek employment elsewhere. She was being observed by the OSI itself at that point and working for them would have made that surveillance even easier. Judging from the files and the changing perception, I think that was her plan. Most of her files from that period of surveillance were redacted. As could have pushed for access, not as a viceroy but as a princess, but
Arc Chronicles Interlude: Colonial Governor
Interlude: Colonial GovernorThe governor watched his niece and the Aquitese prince leave the restaurant, he could only hope his dearest niece found what she was looking for in that young man. He might be young, but he was thoughtful in a way beyond his years. If he didn't know any better, he would have assumed he was speaking to a fully-fledged adult."Chia?" he called his secretary, switching back to Oyashimese. His favored secretary didn't speak a lick of Aquitese, so she had doubtlessly been left in the dark during that exchange."Yes, my master?"He filled her in on everything he had said to the prince and his wonderful niece."I see," she said at last.The governor sighed. "What do you think?""What do I think of what?""This Aquitese Prince?"She got very quiet then. He had known her long enough to recognize her silences. She didn't have the words, at least not yet, so he turned to look back out the window. Night had long since fallen over the city and the streets around them w