Tower of Origin - Synopsis and Prologue (Patreon)

Within the dark and light planes of Arkea, two types of beings reign supreme.

The non-sapient Fallen, whose ranks are made up of the remains of the dead Gods from the past Era of the Gods.

And the Chrono; former humans whose dormant Chrono gene – passed down to them as a way of defending the planes from the Fallen by the fallen God of Origin, Chronos – has awakened, causing their entire body to transform to the point that they are no longer human.

Their bodies reverted back to their prime at perfect health; their ability to age taken away; and a powerful ability unique to the awakened Chrono granted to them, along with heightened physical and mental capabilities, and the ability to pass through the walls between the planes.

However, this all comes at a cost.

Each and every Chrono is forced into the Tower of Origin every time they go to sleep where they must compete in at least one game every night whilst being broadcasted to every plane in Arkea.

Blake Artorius is a 23 year old man, a child of two Chrono, and has been in a coma for five years.
Our story begins after this young man’s Chrono gene awakens, causing him to fully regenerate from his injuries and wake up from his coma.
Now, after being unconscious for five entire years, the strange young man – who, in his memories, had only just graduated from high school – must avoid the politics of the three Chrono factions at all costs.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                        Within a barely lit room of the Taran Hospital
                                                           Year 6137 | Month 11 | Day 1

“As stated by the Chrono Pact of the tenth century, put into place by the fallen god Chronos himself,” a woman begins speaking without taking her eyes off of the young man sitting on the bed close to the window, “any newly awakened Chrono will no longer be restricted directly by the human laws of the planes of Arkea and will instead be held under the laws of the Chrono.”

The woman has on a pure-black military-style uniform with the letters CRD engraved on a small and yet flashy badge located on the uniform’s chest. She has brown hair that flows halfway down her back with little to no curls, a pair of green eyes, and various different weapons located throughout her body as she stands with her back as straight as an arrow, just barely inside of the hospital room.

“Blake Artorius,” she continues while slightly clenching her fist out of irritation at the man’s obvious lack of attention towards anything she is saying, “from today onwards, you must obey the following laws.”

Serena Dawn pauses for a second here as she struggles to keep her expression neutral in the face of the young man’s actions, whether out of her own inexperience in dealing with Chrono or just her strict and by the book personality. However, after taking a deep breath, she manages to calm herself down.

She glances briefly at the door behind her before turning again to the young man whose eyes – including both his naturally blue eye, and his pure-white Chrono eye that is more like a ball of white energy than an eye – are still focused entirely on the window next to him and the vast city sprayed out beyond it.

‘Please let someone more experienced get here quickly,’ she thinks to herself with a mixture of both irritation and fear.

A freshly recruited human officer like Serena normally wouldn’t have been sent to indoctrinate a newly awakened Chrono, but due to the vast distance between the closest Chrono Regulatory Department branch office and the hospital, the department ended up having to send the closest officer regardless of rank to begin the indoctrination process before a more experienced one could arrive.

After a brief sigh at her bad luck, Serena continues speaking, “The first Chrono law – All Chrono must select one of the three major factions to be registered under, including the Chaos faction, the Order faction, and the Neutral faction.”

“The second Chrono law – In order to legally fight another Chrono outside of the Tower of Origin, the two parties must agree to an official duel beforehand. If an official duel is not agreed to and registered in the system prior to the duel, then any deaths, both amongst the participants of the duel and the spectators who willingly stayed behind after a three hour notice will legally be considered as murders committed by the party or parties in question,” Serena continues, still with a controlled expression on her face, “The third Chrono-”

The door to the room suddenly bursts open and a woman immediately walks in with a dark look on her face. However, as soon as she sets her eyes on the young man sitting on the bed, a wave of relief runs through her, causing her to relax for the first time in several years.

“Director Artorius, ma’am!” Serena quickly shouts with a salute once she sees the woman walk into the room, finally drawing the young man’s attention for the first time since Serena began speaking.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                     Half an hour earlier, in the Official Meeting Hall of the CRD HQ

“-and that’s why we should increase our supervision of the Darkling Party,” a man with a dirty gray Chrono eye says as he presses a button on the remote in his hand, causing the slide on the projected screen at the front of the room to turn dark, marking the end of his presentation.

Muttered conversations begin to fill the room as a couple dozen Chrono spread out around a long table speak amongst themselves about the man’s proposal. However, everyone falls silent once a loud alarm echoes through the building.

Not a single one of the Chrono within the room say anything for nearly half a minute.

Finally, the female Chrono at the end of the long table with a pure crimson Chrono eye speaks up, breaking the silence. “Where is the newly awakened Chrono located?”

Her voice seems to break all of the other Chrono out of their stupor as they all turn to look at her. The woman has long, raven-black hair, with one blue eye to match with her crimson Chrono eye. She has on a similar military-style, black uniform to the rest of the Chrono within the room, except with a golden star engraved on its shoulder, and a special collar that flares outwards around her neck.

“It looks like one of the recruits was sent to the new Chrono due to the distance already,” the male Chrono with a pitch-black Chrono eye standing next to her wearing a uniform similar to her own, except without the special collar, says, drawing her dark gaze towards him in the process, “but the Chrono himself is located at the Taran Hospital.”

A flash of surprise crosses the woman’s face before she narrows her eyes.

“You don’t have to ask, Director Artorius,” the Star Enforcer says while tapping the earpiece in his ear, “I have already confirmed it with the Chrono Indoctrination Department.”

He then pauses as the other Chrono within the room – all of them being Star Ranked Officers of the CRD – begin to have various reactions of surprise at the sight of the hopeful look growing on their Director’s face.

The man glances at all of them before turning back to his boss and stating as clearly as possible, “The newly awakened Chrono is your younger brother-”

Diane Artorius immediately stands up from her seat, causing her chair to be sent flying into the wall from her speed right before her second in command finishes his statement.

“Blake Artorius.”

Without wasting even a single second, the director rushes out the door, leaving all of her subordinates behind in the meeting hall. On the way, her crimson eye begins to blaze slightly, and her movement speed continues to increase more and more until none of the humans nearby by can see anything more than a simple blur as she passes by.

Meanwhile, the Star Ranked Officers of the Faust plane’s Chrono Regulatory Department all proceed to stare out the door of the meeting hall for a few seconds until they begin speaking.

“Wasn’t her brother in a coma for the past five years…?” a Chrono with a green Chrono eye asks before continuing once he sees the Star Executor nod, “So he’s actually awakened?”

Once again, the Star Executor nods his head, causing several of the Star Ranked Officers to share surprised glances with each other.

However, this doesn’t last long before one of them – a woman with a purple Chrono eye – states in a seemingly emotionless voice, “Both of his parents were Chrono.”

Everyone within the room turns to look at her, only to turn towards the one who was previously making a proposal as he suddenly says, “Rose is right; I would have been more surprised if he hadn’t awakened as a Chrono at some point in his life.”

“But,” the Chrono with the green eye interjects before any of the others can say anything, “just because it was almost guaranteed to happen, doesn’t mean it would happen this early in his life.”

A short silence ensues after this comment, but it’s broken as another Chrono mutters, “And it’s a good thing it did. I know I wouldn’t want to be left alone, with my only remaining family member being stuck in a coma.”

Most of the gathered CRD higher ups all turn to look at either the door to the hall, or the director’s chair as they contemplate the man’s words.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, remember. There may be problems here and there, but that's because this story is still beta before it goes live on Royal Road. I will still be periodically making edits.