Broken: Shard's Tales

Such a bother. he thought.

Though Voyne had spared no expense in making his plane as comfortable as possible, the flight from Dryne to Osyna was a very long one and he was starting to get bored. Ordinarily, he would have taken the flight in smaller segments, stopping in different nations for tours or to visit his manic followers. But, he just could not delay the United Noble's summons, not if he wanted everything to go according to plan.

"How are we doing, Viven?" he asked while reclining on a chair, directing his question to a red cloaked figure with a seven pointed star on her chest.

The eyes of the figure went unfocused, as if viewing another image. "We are right on schedule, sir." She said after a minute. She took one worried look at him.

"How are we going to convince them they are real? How do we prove that they are dangerous?"

He smirked. Even though she had seen it before, it always chilled her. His smirk seemed like one of an all-knowing god looking down on ignorant, mere mortals. She wasn't too far off course. He wasn't a god though.

"That is not a problem." he said, waving his hand dismissively.

He settled back in his chair confidently.

Nothing could go wrong.

He would finally be reunited with Mother after all this while.

And then all would be one.

*******

Luthen was a solitary figure. He thought of himself as peculiar amidst the mundane. The diamond among rocks.

The world would stop for him, he thought. He remained separate, different from the ordinary.

But no, this wasn't pride. He could not just put a finger on it. But he was convinced nonetheless that others like him existed. A chosen group. Special.

It was deep, the conviction. Coursed through him like his own blood.

Probably, subconsciously, he bore the weight of destiny.

Maybe–

"Good morning. I would like two chocolate ice creams with two scoops each" A girl interrupted his thought train.

He sighed. Destiny would have to wait. He adjusted his apron and cap.

"Coming up!"

"Here's your order."

"Thank you."

The girl left the shop and handed one of the ice creams to a guy and they walked off together, holding hands. They were mostly likely on a date.

Luthen had no close friends. Except Maron.

When anyone except for him had tried to get him to hang out, he always refused. Maron could be considered his best friend.

Well, he had only one friend really.

Speaking of which, Maron and I need to go get those cards soon.

*******

He got home from his part-time job at an ice-cream shop and paused.

It was ironic that though he considered himself above others, he still was an ordinary ice cream shop attendant.

More like really important part-time worker. He thought again.

He opened his front door and saw his sister poke out her head from a room to check who it was. On seeing him, she ran inside.

Almost immediately, his mum called out from the direction his sister went.

"Luthen?"

"Evening mum." He replied.

He did not wait for his mum to say anything else and stormed up to his room.

So tired.

He got on his bed and slept through the evening, missing dinner.

*******

Meanwhile, Voyne's plane touched the tarmac.

He got on the plane's stairs, followed by Renée, his personal assistant and the woman he had called Viven. At the bottom of the stairs waiting were more people with hooded cloaks similar in design to Viven's. Except Viven's was red.

"Welcome, Archbishop." said the lady, the leader of the cloaks as she unveiled her head. "Welcome to Osyna."

Renée was startled. To think that the 'religion' founded by Voyne – The Church of the Emancipation also known as the Soul Church – could have followers where sentiment against the Church was strong was incredible. She originally thought they were going to check in to a hotel for the night.

The city of Osyna had been particularly vocal about their opposition to the church. The United Nobles deciding to hold his trial here was basically condemning him. Yet, Voyne didn't seem perturbed.

I have been his assistant this long yet there is much I still do not know.

Voyne was definitely an enigma.

"Your journey was long and you must rest for tomorrow, First Priest." continued the lady, addressing Voyne. "Come my lord, we have made arrangements."

Renée wasn't into any of the religious rubbish. She definitely did not feel comfortable staying with Voyne's overly enthusiastic fan group.

"Voyne– " She began.

"You will address the Archbishop properly, woman!!" A cloak raised its hood and addressed her in a manly, brutish voice. Their leader did not say anything but looked at her coldly. Viven emanated an angry aura. Voyne smirked again.

That smirk. He is enjoying this.

She looked round and realized that she could not win. There was bound to be someone here with an Ability, probably something very unpleasant. Voyne had a knack for gathering those kinds of people to himself. Gathering her composure, she started again.

"Your Holiness, May I be excused to a hotel?"

"No, you may not." Replied the same brutish male "Arrangements have been made– " he cut off.

A look.

Voyne looked at him with a smile. However, the cloaked brute did not reciprocate. Instead, the fear written on his face was obvious. Tension rose, so thick you could feel it on your skin.

"I believe she did not address you."

"I am sorry, Archbishop. I–"

"Renée will stay where she likes tonight. The Church tolerates others."

Renée decided to just take the win, though she did not like the tone of the word 'others'.

Kind of sounded like trash

The Soul Church was infamous for its radical beliefs. They emphasized on rooting out an evil they termed 'Shards' who were supposed to be a group of humans that were the reincarnations of the Seven Primordial Evils. So their 'god' decided to send – of all people – Voyne to root them out.

That's the 'reason' Voyne formed The Church and gathered together those with Abilities.

Gathering Ability users was sure to attract some attention. Worse still, he had a preference for Soul Aspect Abilities, the rarest known ability type. The United Nobles, the umbrella organization of the Nobles, the rulers of various nations, were especially suspicious of such activity. So, they summoned him to explain himself.

If he hadn't shown up, they would have labeled The Church a terrorist group and exterminated it. It would be hard for him to go along with his plan

It all sounded like a load of nonsense to Renée – the Shards, gods, Voyne. But she knew Voyne was hiding something sinister.

It is always a different angle with him. I wonder if I have to quit this job.

She shook her uneasiness off and left.