BC9 - Prologue

There was ten of them in the beginning. No I suppose that's not correct. In the beginning there was but one, but its funny how one seems to multiply all by its self into something much larger. Something that no one in this world or the next could have ever seen coming. Together they could have done anything, and yet they did nothing. They came together to surround the one and then just as quickly separated to never lay eyes on each other. Why were these others drawn to the one? No one will ever know for sure, and without knowing that it would be impossible to know why they parted their ways. What is important though, is that they came together. Even for a split second, they were one, and the one was complete. As confusing as this sounds, and as rough as a way to start this retelling, its important to know this. The one is never truely alone. The one is never truly complete, and the one is as important as the ten.

Between this world and the next there is a pocket in space untouchable by any god, master, deity or all of the above. In thi pocket in time there lies a race of people, no. A group of living entities who see time in a much different way than us. In such a way that even I can not begin to explain in any form of language of this world. Never the less these living beings exist for one reason alone. To record the events of times, from start to finish and everything in between. They know what happened before and they know what will come to be and won't come to be within all plains of space. It is within this pocket of space from which our second comes from. To make it easier to understand, it is from this plain that our second player in this story was born. Either he was meant to be a test or if he was an attempt to see our world from a different view we will never know but second was cast out of this mid laying plain and into our world. It was there, in Paris, France, Silens Odaku was born for the second time. This time as a human.

Despite his rather young infant body in our eyes, Silens knew all and as far as I could tell, still does know all. Though he knew what it could mean if suddenly a three year old began speaking in multiple languages. If a four year old suddenly could paint a perfected picture of the internal systems of the human body. If a six year old was suddenly able to circle the globe in the blink of an eye. If a ten year old was able to express the balanced mathematical equations to travel through time. If a twenty year old suddenly was able to predict the deaths of other around him. It would make his job so much harder on him. Instead Silens chose to take the easy route. He blended with the family he was gifted to. he blended with the people around him. He waited till the right moment to change everything. Now at this point one might take a guess at what Silens life was like in the early years. Good luck. There are something in this world and the next that I would much prefer not to know all the details in, but never the less I'll fill you in on what his youth on earth was like in one word. Happiness.

Silens Odaku was born to a pair of acrobats who traveled the lands with a rather extended family. You may even go as far as to call it a traveling circus, but I'm not gonna go that far. It was simply a group of like minded people searching for something that could never be found. they just happened to prefer to spread happiness over hatred through their travels. Hundreds of towns, thousands of people, billions of smiles could be found in the history books of this traveling family. In the beginning, they were no more than shelter for Silens but since he to was born into a human body he was no exempt from our ever evolving emotions. He grew close to them, much closer than he had ever planned. So close that when the time came he struggled making his choice. On what would be the twenty fourth year of his life here on earth Silens left his family without notice. Still though thinking back I wounder if he left that early because of his emotions or if he did so on purpose. Never the less, Silens vanished from this world for another two years before finally reappearing by the side of the third.

To him perhaps this was the closest moment in time, or perhaps his actions earlier forced him to readjust things back on track. Never the less Silens reappeared, not aged a single day since leaving his family, standing next to a young woman. Not older than twenty herself, she was laying on a sheet less bed covered in shame. Tears rolled from her eyes, more from disrepair than pain, and it seemed as though she would never notice Silens's presence next to her. He stood straight next to the bed still wearing his all most rainbow colored clothes, and a large three horn hat perched on his head. His pale white skin gave him away in the darkness of the room but still the woman didn't notice him. Her breathing became deep as she seemed to accept her position in this world, and just as it seemed like these two would remain in silence for eternity, he spoke.

"All sins and pains can be purged from this world in time, but they will remain with you forever." Silens began in a calm quiet tone, that demanded the attention of the woman. "Either let them defeat you and leave this world, or cling to them until he comes for you. Seal your voice, your soul, your self away until he comes to you. Then allow him to shoulder your pain and follow him till the end of days." Silens continued, making sure to speak clearly but never changing the tone of his voice. His words couldn't have been more cryptic to you or me but for some reason his words held power. Silens started to fade out of this world but hesitated a moment. His human side couldn't resist taking the moment he had here. A hollow smile crossed his face as he opend his mouth one last time here. "Know that he will be completely yours, and know you will have to do nothing to earn that." Silens said in a much softer tone, just barely audible, or perhaps he really didn't intend for her to hear him. Never the less his words took a deep hold on this woman's heart as she cut her eyes up to look at Silens, but found nothing in his place.

Again Silens disappeared from this world. He wouldn't reappear until a year earlier this time. This time in a small town just on the outside of Berlin, Germany. Perhaps his need to appear here next sprouted from his feelings of uncertainty. He'd appear outside a window of a small cottage. Invisible to everyone inside of the cottage Silens watched carefully as a mother of two tended to a large pot on top a burning fire. A father, tired from his work day sat in the corner of the room reading from a book centuries older than he. Between the mother and the father, in the middle of the floor played two young children. A small girl with her air tied in a ponytail, and a boy, who despite playing a bit rough with his toys, had soft caring hands when ever the girl was involved. This family seemed happy and at peace with their lives here.

"Does it have to go this way?" Silens asked himself as he kept watch on this family. Despite knowing what was to come and that this was what had to be done, he couldn't help but question everything. "She could be enough on her own couldn't she? No." Silens continue questioning himself but quickly answering himself. "But does he have to be the one to care for them? Yes." Silens continued answering himself again, but this time his answer wasn't solid. It was shaky at best. "No." Silens said as he dispersed from this world again. It wasn't their time yet.

Not but minutes from when Silens left the third one, and a year after he first began questioning himself, Silens appeared for the third time. This time in the same place, standing outside that small cottage watching over this family. The mother sat in the fathers chair this time with a quilt covering her lags. In just a years time she had turned from the bright caring mother to a hollow shell of what she was. The only emotion resonating from her frail body anymore, was the love for her two children. The father was away in the mines at work to support this slowly dieing family. The children playing before were tending to some clothes behind the house, but Silens eyes was locked on the frail mother in the corner of the room.

"No." Silens said plainly as he turned and took a step away from the cottage. He wasn't disappearing this time as he took a second step away. "These are mine." Silens said plainly as he continued walking away and towards the center of this small town.

The men in the mines were returning to their homes and families of this small town began to become whole. All except for that one. It would take much more for Silens to see the happiness he saw there a year ago. Silens stood there in the center of town, completely invisible to everyone there, except one. An man, dressed in a large black coat. A scarf wrapped around his neck hid the bottom half of his face and a black hat hid the other half of the face. His attire combined with his aura around him, set him far apart from the residents of this town.

The man stood silent looking over Silens in his rainbow attire. A hand reached into his coat and took hold of something as he paused a moment. Silens presence, staring down this man, didn't seem to change any of the man's ideals or plans as he tugged on the object under his coat.

"Nickolai Karpatha." Silens said in a low tone but demanding attention. The sound of Silens voice forced the man in black to shutter, or was it rather hearing his own name forced him to come to a halt. Never the less again Silens words held the power. "A man who only know destruction is destined to learn how to care eventually, but these two are not yours. I have deemed you unworthy of carrying their burdens with you. Leave now." Silens said plainly, his words echoing with a bit of anger in them. The emotion within them seemed to weaken the strength of his words.  

The man in black's body shuddered a moment at Silens words. He pulled his hand out of his coat leaving behind the object of his pain and torment. Instead it moved up to the scarf around his neck. Two gloved fingers pulled the scarf away from his mouth as he opened it to speak, but again his body shuddered. No sounds escaped his lips. Panic could be seen in his eyes as fear surrounded his heart. Though it didn't last long. The man in black knew sooner or later this day would come. Another person with power greater than his would bring his end. Its what he waited on. It's what he wanted, but his end was not to come today.

"Turn, and leave this place. Walk until you come to the end of the earth and then continue on." Silens said with a bit of satisfaction in his voice at the thought of keeping this man away from those two children, but even he knew he needed this man as well. "Fall deep into the depths of darkness." Silens continued as his words lost what little bit of emotion was in them. "From the depths of your own darkness, know there is no end for you, and raise up to follow the shining star. For there can be no light without darkness close by it." Silens said plainly before his body disappeared and again Silens was gone.

Three months, two day, three hours, forty-two minutes late Silens returned in the same place. The center of the town still facing where the man in black was standing. He was long gone and left no trace behind. Only silens knew he was there at one time or another. Silens slowly turned and started heading back to the small cottage. His path lead him past the window where he had carefully watched the family. He rounded the corner of the house to the back where the father stood in silence. To his left the boy and to his right the girl. Upturned dirt layed out before these three with a single piece of wood at the end. A grave marked with only the most minimum of headstones was the source of this families dread, but Silens knew this family was far from their hardest times, but it wasn't time for that just yet. He had bought time by changing the forth's path. Silens knew his work with them was far from even beginning, but it wasn't time for that yet. Seeing how his changes had effected them Silens disappeared again.

At the same second Silens appeared in a heavily forested area some where in the south of Brazil. It seemed as though for the first time Silens had reached his destination too early, or perhaps to late. Which ever it was, there was no one here but Silens himself. The brightly dressed man hung his head a moment and gritted his teeth. Emotions reached a new level in his mind and he knew it. He needed a moment but only a second. He lifted his head and looked straight a head as a man came running out of the brush. He was crouched as he ran, bent over like a wolf on all fours moving through this forest. He ran right past Silens without seeming to notice him at all. A second later four large burly men erupted from the brush. Weapons of torment drawn in a firing position, aiming for the wolf like man, but their run was quickly halted by Silens. Their bodies disappeared from this world along side Silens this time.

Seconds later Silens reappeared a bit further in this forest. The men who disappeared along with Silens were no where to be seen. Removed from reality perhaps, or may be frozen in time. Either way all that remained was Silens. His eyes locked on a tree. A second later the wolf man moved from a bush and slammed his back up against the tree. His breath barely labored from his hard run through the thicket of the forest. His eyes peered around the tree trunk in search of his pursuers. His ears seemed to tune into every sound around him, but his nose was the key to this situation as he quickly turned his head to face Silens. The first of them all to notice him without giving himself away to them. A hand of the wolf man flew to his waist and grasped a handle and if Silens hadn't spoke, the blade would be drawn and this story may have ended here.

"Your senses are what I seek and your skill with those blades are what I need." Silens said plainly in his demanding quiet tone. For the first time he had began with a much more direct speech, being forward with what he was here for. "Fear is a great motivation to keep moving forward despite no signs of a better life, but I'm here to show you. Even you have a brighter future, but you will have to hunt it for yourself. Find him and find your salvation." Silens said plainly. His words carrying a huge amount of weight to them but at the same time calming this wolf man's heart. Some how, he trusted Silens despite only just now meeting him. Still though the wolf man's nose twitched as a scent crossed it. "He will need you for his own salvation, but trust my words as I say them. He is your silver lining in this world." Silens said to the wolf main in a compassionate tone before fading out of view again. His voice however seemed to trail back to this point in time just as the wolf man left the area. "Stay safe fifth."

Silens again appeared, this time back at the day he had left his family. His appearance here was more of his own doing than that of his intentions. He watched as himself vanished from this world and begin. He'd met the third and set her on her track. Taking her voice away, and sealing her emotions would land her into a dark place in this world where only he would be able to pull her from. He'd met the fourth and changed his path to that of pain and torment. A path that would cause his heart to fill with pure darkness where he'd follow the light without knowledge as of why. He'd met the fifth just moments ago, and gave him the piece of the puzzle that would lead him into the hunt for the one. He'd stop at nothing to find peace again with the owner of that scent. Still though his mission was far from over but Silens had to take a moment. Is it right to continue this? was the only thought floating through his mind, and despite that Silens disappeared again. With the first perfectly on track, he claiming the second, and the alteration of the paths of the forth and fifth Half of the ten were sure to be gathered. The five of the past all had their paths now and the five of the future would soon be set straight as well. Then for the final time of today, Silens disappeared.

Silens sat perched on a cliff side over looking the roads around France. A large group was walking along the lower road pulling carts behind him. There wasn't a frown among the faces of this group. Silens felt no real bonds that he who could outwardly express as to why he had to come back again, but something drew him back to the group. To him perhaps it had only been a few hours since he left them but in our reality, Silens had been separated from his family for four years now. Now two years of our time after Silens had first made contact with the first of the five of the past, Silens prepared to begin the second round. There was still the one to find, and there was still the five of the future to find. They would be the hardest to make sure their paths remained correct. Perhaps it was their connections with the five of the past that would make it the hardest or perhaps it was because there was more connecting them to this world. Silens body faded from this world as he repaired himself to begin again.

Silens appeared one year later, nearly three years after first making contact with the forth, in a harbor town at the coast of Italy. He appeared in the center of this town, surrounded by fire. He was far to late to save this place, but he never did intend to save this place anyway. Silens stood perfectly still looking straight a head, waiting for the correct time to act. The screams of the people living here had faded long ago and all that remained was the crackle of the fires, and then the sound of slow heavy steps upon that brick road. A man coat in darkness, overflowing with it, came walking directly at Silens. His weapons of despair drawn at his sides would have rooted fear into anyone's hearts, but now Silens's. Just eight feet from Silens the man in black finally noticed him. Again he shuddered as his eyes locked onto Silens and he seemed to freeze a moment there before raising his left hand to bare his fangs at Silens.

"You know the darkness now, forth." Silens said preemptively stopping any attack on him. A small girl in a white, blood stained dress sat on a pile of rubble to Silens's left. Her consciousness fading fast from the smoke of the fire. "She will be your leash to this world." Silens said making no movement at all and keeping his eyes locked onto the forth. "Without her you will never feel whole again. Without her you will be lost to this world." Silens said finding his roots in the overly cryptic speech. Silens let a small smile touch his face. He hated saying these words as much as people hated hearing them. "Raise her Nikolai. Teach her, tend to her, care for her, and she will be the one to lead you to him. Let her be your eyes who can see the light beyond your darkness, and let you be the darkness that protects her in this world of ours." Silens said letting his final words trail off as he disappeared from this place. A second more there and he might have lost it to his emotions. Never the less everything was on track now. Rather for now.

Silens appeared a month later in Mexico this time. Homes were far and few between here, but Silens had picked the perfect place as he appeared directly in front of a wooden door. His back was to the door though as he waited a moment for a young boy to come within view. The boy had a large vase on his back as he approached the house and he could have completely missed Silens if he wasn't standing in front of the door. The boy had a bit of panic flash through his mind but as he locked eyes with Silens his heart calmed its self.

"The solitude life is no life at all. Though you didn't come upon yours by choice, there is a chance yet." Silens said in a plain hushed town. The boy didn't try to move, he didn't try to speak. He simply listened to what Silens was saying. "In the depths of a forest you will find a being who existence in this world has been even more isolated than yours, and though it would be possible for you both to continue this way of life together you can save him from his life and he can save you from yours." Silens smiled as he looked directly into the boys eyes. "He will teach you how to survive this world, and you will make sure he survives beside you." Silens said plainly before disappearing again. Silens had a few extra words he wanted to say but he had to leave before he said to much. Silens was sure never the less that was more than enough to set the boy upon his way.

Silens was nearing the end of the beginning finally. Not much more to do done before the real show was to begin. Two, three, four, and five were set upon their paths and now eight, nine, and ten had been selected as well. The remaining ones were six and seven along with one. Silens reappeared on that ridge above the roads in France again. The same moment in time as the first appearance here. The people taking the same steps as before. It was calming for him to see their paths never faulted. I suppose you could say he was happy to see his family still moving forward in time. Soon Silens had to take his place in time along side six and seven and yet, he still had doubt in his heart things would remain perfectly on track. There was but one way to make sure everything would turn out correctly, and that was to wait. Still though, Silens needed that one little moment in time, wither it be where the current line was headed or if it was completely off mark, Silens had to see it again. So he disappeared again.

The cries of a newborn rang in Silens ears as he reappeared in a small clinic. Doctors scurried about as the child's parents on looked with worry that all was well. Once the doctors seemed content a young nurse carried the child to the bed side next to the mother, before gently laying the child in the mothers arms. The father on the opposite side of the bed embraced the mother carefully, but with enough warmed to heat the coldest of rooms. They were no as one, and the tenth was found. Silens smiled with a bit a joy and silently, unnoticed by anyone he began to fade out of this world again. Or so he thought.

"I'm glad you decided to return Meimu." The new father said out loud. His voice quivered with a bit of a laugh. The mother turned her eyes up to Silens at the foot of the bed making this traveling man jump for the first time ever. Completely caught off guard here as to these two seeing his presence. Silens opened his mouth to speak but words couldn't leave his mouth. "Though its no surprise my closest friend would come on such a wonderful day. Such a precious day." The father continued as he gently ran a finger across the cheek of the new born who quieted at his father's touch. "Its been a long road for us all hasn't it meimu?" the father continued as he allowed a smile to coat his face in pride of his new child.

"Yes." The mother said. she turned her eyes from Silens to the child in her arms and laughed slightly. "To think that you would lead me here all those years ago." She said softly as Silens materialized completely into this world. He wasn't ready to leave it just yet. He too let out a laugh along with her.

"In deed number three." Silens said plainly. The words could be heard by the mother but she let them pass by her. Silens turned his eyes from the child to the father and he waited a moment taking in the atmosphere of this place. "I'm glad we become friends as well number one." Silens said plainly. His words may have passed the mother without notice but not the father.

"Silens," The father said in a lower tone than before. "Knowing what is possible is different than experiencing them. Though we may not be friends just yet know that I will be the one to stand beside you till the end." The father said. His gentle tone of chatting with a friend changed to a lower tone as if talking to complete stranger. "Never forget that." He continued as he stood up straight leaving the mother and child alone in the bed a moment. The father turned his eyes to Silens and locked dead onto him. "Know knowledge is useless without reason, but know reason is pointless without emotion. Return to then and walk your path. Follow it to the end and experience this world from new eyes. Through your own eyes." The father said. His final word caused Silens's heart to shudder and with a soft flash Silens disappeared from this world.

He reappeared back in that small town outside of Berlin. His hand all ready locked onto the nob of a wooden door. The nob half turned before Silens knew what was going on. His mind was completely blank now. No memory of anything, no knowledge of things that happened or things to come. No knowledge of the new father and mother, no knowledge of the people he had set on their ways. All he knew for sure, was he was opening this door. The door opened to that small room with a fireplace with no fire within it. A mantle above the fireplace held a pair of photos. A mother and father. The children from before were huddled up in the corner that once was the home to that chair. A tattered quilt wrapped around them as warmed each other with what remained of their happiness. Seeing them made Silens heart sink. No, made Meimu's heart sink.

"I will be your light." Meimu said plainly as he looked at the two kinds. His words shocked them but at the same time comforted them. Meimu slowly drifted across the room to the kids. He dropped to the ground onto his knees and wrapped his arms around them. Tears flowed from his eyes. "I'll all ways protect you." He said as the three became a new family of their own.