Chapter Three

Year 2770, 3rd Sun

Vicinity Three ( Dolondy Navy)

With just over a decade under his belt, Aradag found himself sitting through college entrance exams. He had toiled through long, loud hours with his mother to get there, but he was finally admitted into the only place that would accept him. Aradag had long decided that if he were cursed with such abnormal physical strength that he would use it in its context, so he fought against his mother's wishes to pursue an education in the Navy College of Vicinity Three.

Aradag's skills propelled him through his three years with relative ease. As per the college's rules, he was not allowed to take up any studies or jobs on the side as his training drained his week of its hours. This did not dampen his spirits, for he had nothing to give anywhere else, anyway. His peers envied his strength and agility, sometimes went out of their way to sabotage his activities, but Aradag could not find it within him to resent them. After all, they glorified what he shrank away from in disgrace and fear. The day Aradag graduated was the day he remembered most fondly in his time so far away from his hometown in Demoor.

The day that followed, he frowned upon recalling.

He journeyed home eager to impress his mother with his newfound control over his scorned abilities, but the sight of the door hanging ajar, holes digging out its woodwork, made him stop with his fist hovering over nothing. The sight pumped apprehension into his heart, but he pushed open the door while trying to concentrate on the best case scenario.

Ripped curtains. Shredded furniture. Rotting scraps left out on the counter, uneaten... or so it might have been. His eyes glazed over the kitchen, zeroed in on the trail leading to his mother's bedroom in seconds.

That door shared the same fate as the last. This struck fear deep in Aradag's gut, for the worst case scenarios began to play before his eyes, near blinding him from the torn mattress and slashed desk that chipped away under the windowsill. It took a while for reality to register, but when it did, the next Aradag saw was red.

He dashed into his old room to find it untouched, the bathroom seemed ravaged by a wild beast, and in both chambers his brain conjured image after image. Aradag did not feel his hands shaking above the front door's threshold, nor did he realize that the ticking in his ears came not from an invisible clock, but from his teeth.

It might as well have been an ancient bomb, waiting for Aradag's return to explode and wipe away his past. As he started demanding answers from the neighbors, then their own neighbors, he felt the fallout precipitate further and further. He could even picture the explosion in his mind while he sailed to and from every island in his Vicinity, could sniff the smoke and burning flesh of the fallen that together wafted from the clawing seafoam below his ship.

In the end, his terror brought him to Count Donald's castle.

Even his stance before the Count blurred into snippets of an incomplete picture. Aradag pleaded with the Count for permission to search all twelve vicinities for his mother. It sounded like an entitled demand in his own ears, much to his horror, but the Count relented more quickly than he anticipated and claimed that he would talk to the Duke.

As he sat upon tapping legs in an extravagant waiting room, Aradag tried to reassure himself that his mother was at least alive. A maid was brewing floral tea by the entrance to the Count's office; he tried to concentrate on the aroma. Perhaps she had been granted permission to immigrate, leaving the house unattended and prone to thievery...

"Aradag Spectro."

Aradag shot up mindlessly to greet the nobleman who was sent to fetch him. "Yes, sir."

"I am under the impression that," the man paused to look through his papers, "you are requesting a permit to cross the Vicinity border?"

"Yes, sir." Aradag gulped but tried to hide his spiking nerves.

The nobleman continued to flip through the pages until he set his documents aside to face the younger man. "You are a Navy College graduate. You have a flawless track record and have reported pristine mental health during your training. Have I made any false claims?"

"No, sir."

"Then I'm afraid that the Duke cannot grant you your wishes, young man."

Ice gripped Aradag's chest. "But sir, my mother could be compromised. As a Navy College graduate, I must protect my fellow citizens from—"

"As a Navy College graduate," the nobleman interrupted him, "you are expected to hold tight the beliefs and principles that you were taught. The borders cannot be crossed unless absolutely necessary. The Duke has refused your request and will not accept negotiation. Farewell."

The man turned around and began making his way out of the hall, but Aradag called out to him. "Sir! I insist on receiving His Grace's permission. I am willing to lay down my life in search of my mother, for her disappearance could mean compromise to Vicinity Three and all neighboring Vicinities. I believe she was attacked in her home, sir, this could have catastrophic consequences." In his mind, he made valid points.

However, the nobleman did not stop walking. "If you have any further requests, you had best take them to my assistant, Lyn. Her office is on the first floor, you may ask for directions there. Good day."

Aradag's hand reached for the man's receding shadow in a last attempt to soothe his conscience. It did not help. He trudged back home with his defeat hammering against his head.

The week passed by the same. Each try was foiled by the aforementioned assistant, Lyn. Aradag found her demeanor hard to reason with, for she always deflected his questions with terse orders to wait for an official response from her superiors.

On the eighth day since he talked to the Count, Aradag had become used to the constant stream of rejection and adjourning. He sat before Lyn, distraught by his utter failure. He could not see any of her meticulously potted succulents behind the veil of vapor that clouded his vision. The woman behind the desk paid him little attention as she was busy with scribbling he did not care to look at. God, did he hate his current state, but he could not think of anything to do. His mother, as awful as she was in retrospect, was the only home he had known all his life. If something happened to her, he could not imagine...

"...for ten years maximum. Any lateness will result in an order to dispatch an assassination team. Does that satisfy you, Mr. Spectro?"

Aradag jumped to attention upon sensing that he was being spoken to. "E-excuse me? My apologies, I..."

"I will repeat myself only once out of respect for your circumstances," the assistant frowned, "so listen carefully. The Duke has granted you permission to travel between Vicinities for a maximum of ten years from departure. Should that time frame be exceeded by one day, a military team will be dispatched to assassinate you and any company you have. Does that offer satisfy you, Mr. Spectro?"

Silence, tense silence. Aradag could not speak under the weight of his flooded emotions. Should he accept? Why, it could be his only chance. But ten years to sail around the world in search of one woman amongst tens or hundreds of millions...

"I accept the offer, Ms. Lyn."

"Then the Duke will request your presence in his study within a week. Miss the appointment and your wishes will not be granted. I wish you a good day."

After bowing in deep thanks, Aradag carried himself out of the castle whilst trying to comprehend everything. Ten years. He agreed to dedicating ten years of his life to his missing mother. Would he regret this? What if he did not find her in time? What if she was long dead? Hell, maybe she even became an evil sorceress that terrorized innocents.

No, he would not allow himself to think of any negatives. Aradag will find his mother. The why's and how's could be figured out along the way, but for now, he had to prepare for his meeting with the Duke.