The Forgotten Prophecy - Episode 1 (July 20th, 2702)

It was late in the evening when there was a knock on Arcadeus's door. Two light taps with a brush of caution gave enough clue as to who it was.

"Enter," he said with a coarse voice which he remedied with some tea. "Otho, what do you have for me?" His trusted adviser and the closest person he could call a friend walked in with some files grasped in one hand. The office was dark, covered in grey wallpaper with intricate black designs flowing exquisitely from top to bottom, simply illuminated with a modern chandelier. One could say the room had a serious tone of straight-forward comfort. Arcadeus was behind a dark wooden desk made from walnut, made as a set with the cabinets and chairs within the room. There were no windows since the place acted as a personal bunker within the fortress he resided in.

"General, you're going to want to see these," he almost whispered while handing over the documents. He raised his eyebrows and bit his lower lip as he waited for some sort of reaction.

"Otho... I recall this problem being a matter of the past. Why is this being brought up again?" he questioned.

"The dispatched team only radioed in confirmation of the questionable party's execution two days ago. However, they have yet to come in." Arcadeus studied the cracks in the wood of his desk as he listened then looked Otho in the eye.

"No one found it suspicious until two days later that a team was missing?"

"Well, we are in the middle of a war, General." Otho reminded.

"That we are but the team wasn't exactly of novice stature."

"Indeed but we are suspicious of foul play."

"How so?"

"Their radio hasn't been active since they reported completion. We've tried to contact them but to no avail. We believe the mission didn't go as smoothly as we hoped."

"You're suggesting this party took down our elite task force?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then there needs to be a reevaluation of their threat level. I want another team assigned asap."

"Yes, sir."

"We have established power in the vicinity but complete domination of the realm is proving to be quite difficult."

"There are millions of Demigods still on their way to join us. We would be foolish to think that everyone would follow your lead without challenging you." Otho carefully advised.

"My role does not and will not exceed the role of a General. I am no governor."

"Then perhaps we should make that clear to the public as well. If you mean what you say, the people need to know that we are not a government, that there will be democracy once the war is over."

"Perhaps. My goal with Tasia was only to protect people."

"Let them know that." Arcadeus wearily looked at him and slowly nodded.

"Yes, we shall let them know but this is a matter we can deal with later." He took the documents and briefly went over it one more time. "First we must fix this problem."

"Yes sir."

"Otho," Arcadeus tapped the desk while staring into the distance. "this is supposed to be a tertiary objective. We're supposed to be fighting nations, not clans." He brought his attention back to his adviser. "Let's end this fast." Otho nodded and exited the room.

An hour after the meeting Otho had a new tactical team in front of him in the great hall. It was a team of ten Demigods, all with different powers with offensive and defensive capabilities. With these powers the team had the capability to withstand anything that came their way. Otho handed the mission objectives to the captain, a woman who had shown great skill since her arrival to Arcadeus's forces.

"This is something that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible and low key as possible," Otho instructed. "No one knows of this situation yet and the less that know of it the better."

"Yes, sir." The captain saluted, as did her team.

"What's this?" said a voice from behind them. Otho and the team turned to face Marceus, the eldest child of Arcadeus. "My father is assigning more secret missions?" Otho signalled the captain to leave.

"It does not matter you Marceus. Do not meddle with..."

"Shut up, Otho." Marceus interrupted. "You're beginning to sound more like him by the hour. And you will stop in your place!" He pointed at the captain. "You aren't going anywhere." The captain looked at Otho for orders. "Give me the mission details right now."

"Marceus, this is above you." Otho declared. "This is insolence!"

"Otho, I swear, you may be older than me but I've been the son of a General for over a hundred years. I may be slow to grasp the full extent of my powers but believe me when I say this... I will still kick your ass through impenetrable walls." Marceus diverted his attention back to the captain. "Give it to me." The captain looked at Otho once more who helplessly nodded. Marceus snatched the papers halfway and quickly read through. "Questionable party? What the fuck does that mean?"

"It's a questionable party." Otho bluntly replied.

"Fucking mule. You're of no help are you, Otho?" Marceus watched Otho hold back his rage. "When I want answers I get them. Now... I can go up and speak with my father about this and learn it the hard way... or you can tell me and the next time I see you we can act like we've been pals all this time."

Otho held his head high and pulled off a grin.

"Go to your father. I don't answer to you and you don't scare me, boy." He immediately turned his back to Marceus and marched off. The captain signalled to her team and left him alone in the great hall.

"Well then."

Marceus barged into his younger brother's room with rage.

"How fucking dare he!" he roared, leaving Gallus completely confused. "How fucking... fucker!"

"You wanna tell me what this is about or shall I wait?" he said while lying on his bed.

"Otho man. Fucking Otho. Fuck Otho. Fuck him."

"Ok then."

"Father is doing some covert shit again and he still won't get us in on it."

"Why do you care? We already have our hands full with the war." Marceus angrily walked over to the bedside and stared at his brother.

"Because that's exactly why. We don't have time to deal with covert shit unless we're doing something to get the upper hand or something. We need to find out what it is."

"Then ask father. We can't go snooping about."

"He won't be helpful. We are going snooping."

"No."

"Gallus, we need to prove to everyone that we're not just another man's legacy. We need to prove to people that we can hold our own. That we are just as good as he is. We need to stop being the sons of Arcadeus and be Marceus and Gallus!" Gallus buried his face in his hands and scratched his forehead before blankly looking at the ceiling.

"Fine." he sighed. "We'll fucking snoop."

"Good man." Marceus helped him off the bed and patted his shoulder. "We'll shadow the team and just find out what's what ok?"

"Is this you assuring me or yourself? Either way, both of us know you're lying."

"Shadowing," Marceus repeated himself.

"Fine. I can't ever talk you out of anything so let's just go." Gallus grabbed a long leather jacket off a nearby chair and swung it on. "Dearest brother..."

"What?"

"The moment we cease to shadow, know this... I cease to aid you."