1. Parable Of The Past

Vurt Hull, a name often feared by people with hearts addicted to malice, brought a sign of hope in Mira Soy's, currently full of fear. Trembling under the effects of emotions deemed too frightening, she wanted to make sure that it was really Vurt.

Peeking from the corner of a pile of broken metal components, she controlled her fingers, as nervous as her entire body, trying to console herself from succumbing to the avalanche of dreadful emotions slithering through her mind right now. Being born with the surname of Soy imposed a great risk of being targeted by the rival families. Especially by one of the Reinen's Garden families - House Hull.

'Dear G-God, please h-help me,' Mira quivered quietly as the footsteps inched closer to her hiding spot.

She was likely the only survivor remaining aboard the space throttleship, the Solarquake Warner. As a princess belonging to one of the Seventeen Great Families, she had been granted a fleet of battleships and yottleships for defending the Solarquake Warner on its way to visit the planet Ard for initiating a truce. However, the nations of Ard had possibly perceived the royal escort as an invasion attempt, attacking the incoming spaceships before even entering the confines of Ard's orbit. Within minutes, House Soy's ships had become a floating cluster of space debris as the northern nation Azenturisk's superior artillery penetrated right through their hulls. As for the throttleship itself, the few Exoguard soldiers onboard had fought to their last breaths, unable to bear anyone wishing to hurt Mira, till the Azenguard made their entrance.

Leading the Azenguard was none other than Vurt Hull, the second eldest son of the Hull family - an iconic rival to the Soy family. What was the reason behind their opposition? Perhaps an age-long diet of harsh envy against each other's resources? Perhaps a disagreement between the family leaders?

Evacuation signals and lights blared as Vurt toted his weapon - Lightseeker, a rapidfire sniper rifle forged out of starsilk and deunedite, scanning for signs of life.

His stunning set of armor glistened like his gun, the pearl-white metal composing up rigid and formidable plates for withstanding even the strongest blows from any Exoguard weapon. His gait self-narrated about his regal descent, his noble face radiated with the purity of a thousand heavenly roses, his pale blue eyes honorably focusing on completing his task at hand. And he was willing to claim the soul of anyone who belonged to the wrong side.

"Anyone there? Safe or wounded?" he called out. Vurt's voice spread out with the intentions of echoing against any beating hearts. For even the faintest fraction of fluctuations in the amplitude of the resonance coming back to his ears, Vurt could expertly deduce the difference. "Hello? This is the Azenguard. All personnel are advised to cease resistance immediately. You are being requested to comply with Ard's interplanetary visitor laws. This is your last chance. Please show yourself now to win the choice of mercy, or die while trying to hide."

Before Mira could decide, one of her bodyguards appeared from behind a deep groove along the ship's passageway tunnel. He dropped his lasertune rifle as a gesture of surrendering to Vurt Hull.

"Please, spare me," the Exoguard survivor muttered, raising his armored arms in the air. His helmet was on, hiding the identity of his facial features. "Please show me mercy, good sire. I'm only a servant of my superiors. My actions are not my own!"

"Ah, good choice, soldier," Vurt approached him, accelerating his walking pace by a catalyst of excitement. "Now, how will you be of service to Azenturisk? Your ethnicity and nationality are both unwelcome here. I'm afraid but the only option I have for you is the mercy of a painless death."

"N-no, sire! Please! I have a family to feed back home," the soldier's mind was being mulled by the consequences of his death. "I... I didn't want to ever become a member of the Exoguard. And, we didn't hold any purposes of attacking nor invading your planet! Please, understand me. Try to understand! House Soy is—"

"House Soy is only a matter of my father's business," Vurt smacked the soldier's helmet with the Lightseeker, dropping him to the floor due an imbalance with his center of gravity. "Doesn't the Exoguard indulge itself in teaching manners? Or even foreign laws? In the orbital boundaries of Ard, only certain people have the right to even utter my family's name!" he pointed a thumb towards his own heart. "Or even the name of any families not on par with ours. Including your Soys," this time, he jerked his thumb in the kneeling guard's direction.

Princess Mira Soy was observing the attitudes of Prince Vurt Hull in real life for the first time. All her life, she had only heard distant fables about a fearless new warrior rising from Ard. But her expectations were overrun by the empirical evidence of Vurt's egoistic nature, based on what she could see from her hiding spot. 'Is... is that really Vurt? The Vurt of House Hull? The forsaken Prince of the Seven Skies?'

"I... I apologize, your highness. I'll help! I'll be of use to you and your government," the pleading soldier offered. "From now on, I'll swear fealty to Azenturisk and House Hull, sire."

"Hmm," Vurt began walking in a narrow circle around the surrendering Exoguard soldier, revolving like a lion dominating his prey. His finger seductively played with the trigger of his Lightseeker gun. "I'd need to test the limits of your fealty, then. I've been informed that your throttleship carries one of Lord Soy's daughters aboard. Where... is she?"

Hearing this made Mira's cardiac muscles contract tighter than usual for a second. 'What? What's he doing? Why's he asking for me? Oh no... what do I do now?'

"S-sure! If that's what'll earn my freedom," the soldier's eyes lit up beneath the armored helm. "She's right over there, behind the ruins of the communication pillar, sire."

'No! What did you just do! Stupid guard!' Mira frantically looked around for another place to evade. 'My father is gonna have you executed for that! Traitor! Help, oh God!'

"Excellent," Vurt upholstered Lightseeker magnetically to his back, floating freely but always gravitating near his body. He helped the soldier get back to his feet to stand upright. His eye level met the top of the soldier's helmet. Without warning, he rammed his exoskeletally-armored gloved fists into the Exoguard's torso. He landed another flurry of blows at his head. "Thanks for proving your dishonesty, friend. A soldier who betrays his own kind is of no use nor trust to the next. Better remember that next time, before trying to sell off yourself."

The heavy punches had distorted the shape of the Exoguard helmet, now crushing the human skull within. The lifeless body added one more number to Vurt's kill count for the day.

Mira gasped. 'Wh-what did he just... how did he... how could... ugh... I hate it. I wanna go back home. Oh please, dear God, save me from these horrid people!'

"Alright, Miss Mira," Vurt called out. "Come on out."

Hearing her name being called out by the person she once blindly admired wasn't supporting her sentiments right now. She was unsure whether to trust someone who just murdered one of her family's protectors in front of her uncensored eyes. Indeed, she was not supposed to trust anyone other than the families who stood in alliance with hers. But the proud houses of Theta and Faux were approximately 300 lightyears away. She regretted her decisions for ever volunteering to travel to Ard on behalf of the regular emissary. What could she do now? Was this the end for her? She was still one year away from adulthood.

Remembering the warnings announced by the Exoguardslayer previously, she reluctantly tiptoed out from the shadows of the safe spot, hoping for some more mercy than what he had shown for that last guard.

"H-here," she lowered her gaze out of respect, in accordance with the etiquettes of meeting an elder. Her fingers subconsciously knotted themselves to dampen out some of her mental stress. She nervously walked towards Vurt. Just gazing at the white brilliance of his armor made her tremble. Words struggled to climb out of her pastel-pink doe lips. "P-please... d-don't... h-hurt... m-me..."

Vurt held out his hand.

"Fear me not, Princezzin," Vurt's voice cloaked itself with a gentler tone than what had been in the Exoguard's fate. Hearing the subtle calmness of his voice ushered the first wave of soothing Mira's current state of neuroticism. "I won't hurt you."

Something made her believe in him. Something told her that this was the same Vurt as she had known before. The Vurt Hull of the legends. She felt a sort of trust growing in her mind for the same individual who was responsible for the death and destruction of her intergalactic transport convoy. Was she betraying her own kith and kin by listening to his words?

"T-thanks..."

She placed her hand over his, noticing how delicate her bare fingers looked atop the armored gauntlet. For a moment, her heart forgot about everything she had witnessed so far, trying to cherish the sensation of touching the hands of the handsome guy she had always dreamed of meeting. 'I can't... I can't believe this! I'm holding hands with... with him! Vurtical Hull! Wowie! Oh my dear God, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you... I can't believe this! My dream... has come true.'

She closed her eyes, attempting to sink into an imaginary sea of tranquility. If Vurt wanted to kill her, she'd be more than happy to have her life claimed by the youth she had been fangirling for, for the past seventeen years.

"Hey!" Vurt grabbed her shoulder with his other hand, shaking her back and forth to wake her consciousness back to reality. "What're you doing, girl? Now's not a time to fall asleep. Wake up! I didn't even do anything. Are you feeling alright?"

"Um..." she split her eyelids open again; her pupils dilated to adjust with the brightness from the Solarquake Warner's internal environment. "Yes, I'm... fine..."

"Good," he grabbed her hand and began walking in the opposite direction. "Follow me, Princezzin. And please do not try to run away. It's for your own sake."

The leader of the Azenguard dragged her firmly, but gently, along the tunnels to locate the nearest exit, where Vurt had parked his own yottleship near a hangar bay. The throttleship's hull integrity had been compromised, but thankfully emergency oxygen dispensers had been active for nearly an hour now. Yet, what use was the fresh air when the ship was already getting full of corpses waiting to rot?

"Okay," she bit her lip. 'Am I being arrested? What about all those soldiers? Oh no, what will Mama and Papa do now? Will I be stuck here? For how long, I wonder. Please let it be FOREVER, oh God. I don't wanna return back as long as I'm safe and sound with my dear Vurtie.'

Her dear Vurtie lowered his mouth near her ears, whispering as they walked, "Okay, Princezzin. Do not freak out. I understand that our families are still at war against each other. I had initially estimated the peaceful gestures of your approach to our planet. Possibly to declare a truce. However, I still am not in a position of command. My family would cast me out if I dared to disobey any of their instructions. That's why I'm being held hostage, to hold you hostage as I return back home. A daughter from House Soy is a valuable gift for my parents. I don't know what they'll do to you, but I do know that they'll not force any ill treatment upon you. If they ever do, just inform me and I'll do the advocacy. Is that clear, Princezzin?"

'What? Am I being kidnapped? Am I being turned into a slave?' Mira's indecisive thoughts generated a binary tree of possibilities. 'Well, it's too late now. Not that I can escape from this even if I wanted to. And it kind of feels... very oddly familiar to something,' when it hit her, she blushed. 'It's just like... getting married! Am I... am I going to live with my lovely Vurtie and his parents? Is this real? Am I not dreaming?'

If both her hands were free right now, she would've hugged herself out of joy.

Vurt led her down some stairs which transformed into a shallow ramp further down. 'Such a soft hand. She truly is a princess.'

"We're here, Princezzin," he pointed at the Azenguard Starstealer yottleship awaiting them at the foot of the broad ramp leading to the starboard hangar bay. "Remember what I told you. From this moment onwards, everyone you meet is not a friend. Nor am I," he equipped himself with his rifle. "Hop in. Time to take you sightseeing in Azenturisk. Keep your mouth shut, by the way, because not everyone in the Azenguard is as lenient as me."

The words slightly hollowed out her heart. Regardless, she followed.

Vurt climbed into the spacious cockpit, gesturing at Mira to occupy the co-pilot's seat beside him. 'I don't even know why I'm doing this. General Sev clearly instructed me to spill the girl's blood and bring some droplets back to him for biometric sampling. I hope I can convince them to repeal their orders once I ask Father about this,' he glimpsed at the feminine beauty sitting within his arm's reach, on his left-hand side, when the yottleship's engine roared to life. 'Ha, what a way to begin the year!'