“Just great, another stroke of misfortune…” Looking at the symbol, Lloyd went from feeling surprised and curious to disheartened and hateful. Hatred not for the mysterious girl, but for his painful life, his painful existence.

He had no other choice but to go back into the village, a place where he had lived his entire life and where he had been hated the most. 

Getting up off the ground, Lloyd looked at the sky; seeing the sun, he shrugged and then wiped his mouth of any drool that was there due to the pain from earlier. He then followed the path in front of him, which led to the village, and after a few minutes of walking, he finally reached the village.

Upon reaching the village, he could feel the villagers' sudden gaze shift towards him, well, those who cared enough to even acknowledge his presence. As he walked through the village, looking dirty and rough, they looked at him like he was the scorn of the earth, no one daring to help, no one wanting to help him. 

 “Why is he back?” “Doesn’t it understand?” “No one wants you here!” Each one of the villagers' words carried the weight of their hatred towards him, but Lloyd couldn’t care less; it wasn’t like he disagreed with them. As a matter of fact, Lloyd couldn’t agree more with the villagers; he even tried to take his life a few minutes earlier, but sadly failed. 

Yeah, continue to hate me; I hate myself as well. The only question is who hates me more, y’all or me? As Lloyd drowned himself in his self-loathing, he suddenly felt a strong force push him to the ground. Looking up, he saw one of the villagers running and shouting, “Everyone, everyone, it’s happened! The kingdom has fallen; the empire has taken over!” 

Hearing those words, each and every villager fell silent, the color falling from their faces, in its place fear. 

“What?! You’re joking, right, right?!” A man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties shouted with both anger and concern, mostly feeling the latter.

“No, I wish I were, but it’s true. I saw it for myself, the bodies, the rolling heads of those who even dared to speak, so trust me, I swear I’m… I’m not lying!” As the messenger spoke, his voice was shaking, and tears were dripping down his face, fearing what was to come. 

The village where they lived was also a part of the kingdom, though one wouldn’t normally see the village if they visited. Everyone still knew it as a part of the kingdom; some would argue that it is one of the best parts. The village was a beautiful place with many beautiful trees surrounding it and a long flowing, lovely river beside it. The river was named “The artery of the forrest” and was a great tourist attraction, but these days, not many people visit. 

The reason for the decrease in people was due to the war going on between the empire and the rest of the world. The empire was once a peaceful country, but when the last king, Harold Redstone the third, died, his son, King Arialion Redstone, transformed it into an empire. They started conflicts with neighboring kingdoms and developed new weapons, and then it began. Everyone knew the story, but Lloyd counted help but not to care.

They started to go to war, not because of the arguments that they started, but because they knew that they’d win.

“So what are we to do?” A lady said in a concerning voice.

As the question resounded in the villagers’ minds, an elderly man stepped out and asked the messenger, “How long ago was it that the kingdom fell?”

The young man hesitated for a second, then answered, “ Since last night, I only came now because I was hiding. I’m not sure if they’re heading here either.”

“They scumbags from the empire, of course, they’re coming here for us, our village, our land,” The elderly man said, with hints of anger in his voice.

Listening to their panic, Lloyd felt almost nothing, no hate for anyone, no joy, only the bottomless pit of hate that he felt for life. Pushing himself up off the ground as he listened to the villagers’ ramblings on, he thought it was important that he leave before anyone had to yell at him for overstaying in their presence. 

As he continued to walk through the village to his house, the villagers went on:

“Maybe we can run, or just give up and join them.”

“The empire doesn’t take new citizens in war, only slaves, slaves whom they use like a tool.”

“We must fight.”