Izzar stared blankly into the rolling treescape in the distance, not realizing the beauty of the gloomy mist thickening throughout the forest. Dessix was a grim and foggy world; as the sun would rise, the fog grew thicker and would remain that way for most of the morning. As the day progressed, the fog would grow thinner but would never disappear completely. Less of the swampy jungles were visible as they vanished in the deep mist in the morning. It was a fog, if not respected, that would swallow any unsuspecting person and leave them wandering the forests for days.

Dessix was the only world Izzar had ever known; he had yet to leave the planet or visit another world. Though he never desired to travel and see unfamiliar places, traveling the galaxy would still become an essential part of his duties one day.

He hadn’t seen Thanatos since the incident. All of his training seemed to have come to a halt, making him wonder what was to come next in his training. He was sitting on his meditation perch as he meditated on these thoughts; he felt his training was not yet complete. Even though he welcomed the respite from the torturous training, he still craved to learn more and become better.

A transport ship entered the planet’s atmosphere and moved with a blinding speed towards the Citadel in the far distance. It was the second one to land at the fortress that morning. It was unusual. However, Izzar didn’t give them much thought. Thanatos would have summoned him by now if he required him to be part of the audience for whoever traveled in those ships.

The Dessixian sun rose quickly; dawn had withered, and the morning grew beyond its infancy. His legs were stiff and sore after his longer-than-usual reflections. Although the unusual events from a few days ago had been keeping him awake and meditating more, he was seeking answers but not finding any.

His deep thoughts were disrupted with his room’s door creaking open; he knew who it was. Tarium had not disturbed the young Izzar for days as requested by Thanatos; he was instructed to leave the boy and halt all training. Finally, the wait was over, Izzar thought to himself.

“Grand Master Thanatos has instructed me to take you to the main hall; if you will, please follow me...”

Without hesitation, Izzar followed him out of his room towards the main hall.

The Grand Hall was the most significant space in the Citadel, located at the center of the first level spanning out to the main entrance that leads to the spaceport. The hall was designed to dwarf anything that might enter it; the grand scale was meant to impose the idea of how vast and magnificent the Order of the Ipsimus was. For years, those from the Order who visited the secret fortress believed it was designed to show off the might and majesty of Epsimus Thanatos alone.

When Izzar and Tarium entered the great hall, two other young people appeared from the main entrance walking with monks towards the center. With four main entrances to the hall, they all led up to the center with stairs forming a pyramid finding its pinnacle on a platform where Thanatos displayed the ruins he had found. Izzar had been told of these two young people and that they would join him in his training; however, he never imagined it would be on that day. The three met each other at the center; Izzar’s gaze immediately fell upon the young girl. He had never seen anyone like her before.

“The Epsimus is otherwise engaged at this very moment; he has requested that you become acquainted with one another. Therefore, you are not to leave this hall until the Epsimus summons you to the Galactic Audience Chamber.”

Tarium’s words seemed to echo loudly within the great hall. He was pointing in the direction of a large door opposite from where Izzar entered.

“Master Izzar, please meet Viha Remit and Aargon Lexius.”

Izzar did not respond, flinch or engage with the two. Instead, he stood watching, studying them, especially the girl. He was told they were nothing more than tools to his cause; they were people he would have to try and keep under his thumb to remain loyal and trustworthy. Though he had never interacted with anyone other than those with him in the Citadel.

He could not find much information on the pair; though Diggix had provided him with some, he lacked any helpful information.

“Viha Remit hails from the world of Gandron, the planet of the thieves.” Viha gave Tarium a look from the corner of her eye; it flared; she was ready to attack.

“Aargon Lexius, from the city world of Prion.” Aargon bowed his head slightly but remained silent.

The introductions seemed to be over quicker than it started; Tarium stepped back and left the three to speak. Though silence filled the room. Izzar could not take his eyes off Viha, and Viha maintained eye contact with Tarium, though somewhat on guard, she remained silent. Aargon used the moment to look upon the grand hall around him; Izzar noticed it but did not give it much thought.

An awkward silence prevailed amongst them. The only one showing any signs of life was Aargon; he was far too interested in the majesty of the room than noticing the deep tension around him. Izzar wandered from which circumstances they came from; to him, it seemed that Aargon was used to a life away from rigorous training and untold hardships, and Viha seemed well trained and acquainted to punishment. He was eager to see what kind of skills she possessed. Though as prepared as she might seem, she still had a soft glow to her, he found it challenging to comprehend and found it even more challenging to resist.

“You are to meet Epsimus Thanatos.” Tarium decided to break the tension between himself and Viha. To him and the other monks present, they could feel the pressure growing between Izzar and Viha like a volcano ready to erupt.

“Indeed.” Said another voice, a large dark man with red tattoos on his face appeared amongst the other Monks. Aargon had met him before; the man came and took him away from his home.

“I am Ramon; it is the only name you will use to address me with. I am the High Monk of the Order of the Ipsimus. I will be the one to relay any message or instruction to your mentors, and they will hand it over to you. We understand that you, Viha, and you, Aargon, came from vastly different worlds, and living here on Dessix will be a challenge like no other you’ve faced before. You are to meet Epsimus Thanatos for only this once; he has instructed me to take you to the Galactic Audience Chamber, where he will introduce himself to you in person. Now there are a few ground rules that you need to understand when meeting the Epsimus.”

Viha rolled her eyes; Ramon noticed but decided to ignore it. Aargon seemed to be the eager one amongst them. Ramon and Luther had been acquainted long before Aargon was born; he knew the kid and understood that even if he went through a tragedy that changed everything he believed in, he would still be ready to serve by any means possible.

“You are not to engage in combat with the Epsimus; if he decides to strike you, you are expected to take the attack and bow in respect. Furthermore, you are not allowed to speak to him directly without him giving you permission; the other monks nor I can grant you this permission.”

The two looked at one another; Aargon thought who would attack someone like the Epsimus, Viha thought why should she stand still when she was being attacked.

“You are not allowed to sit in his presence either, it is considered rude, and punishment will be administered swiftly. Lastly, you are not allowed to leave unless you are dismissed.”

Those were easy enough rules, the pair thought to themselves. They’ve had to live under more harsh rules over the years. This set of laws seemed juvenile at best. Viha smiled under her breath. Ramon noticed.

“Oh, one more thing.” He turned towards her with a glare in his eyes. “The Epsimus is very perceptive; he can detect your feelings and emotions even though he is not looking at you. So I suggest you try and keep as much of a neutral stance as possible.”

They glanced around the room only to notice that everyone in the room, including Izzar, had very little to no expressions on their faces. Viha felt an urgency to call Ramon out on his supposed scolding but saw that Aargon was also ready to say something. So, luckily for both of them, they decided to remain silent.

“Currently, the Epsimus is engaged in other business; you are to remain here until called upon. The Monks will lead you to the room when the time is right, and once there, you will meet the Master. Breaking the Law of the Order is the greatest offense anyone within these halls could do.” Ramon turned around and disappeared behind the other monks; there was a prevailing silence amongst them

The morning was still young; the fog had not yet settled within the halls of the Citadel. Once the mist had thickened considerably in the early morning, the lingering blanket covering the jungles would make its way into the lower levels of the fortress. The thick fog within the halls gave the Citadel a gloomy atmosphere when the morning sun broke through the tree line and entered the tall narrow windows.

The new pair had not been given a tour of the fortress yet. Their belongings had been collected before their departure and were promptly removed from the ships when they landed. There were many personal possessions they kept amongst their belongings that especially Aargon wanted to hold on to. Though it was forbidden of him or Viha to carry anything more than they already had on their person.

Meeting the Monks was another experience neither were prepared for, though Aargon almost felt like he was at home. The Monks were remarkably similar to the Librarians back home. However, the Monks were all silent; they did not speak or gesture or make any sound. The only ones who would talk to them were the ones in charge. Nevertheless, they did manage to disembark the ship and step onto the strange planet that was Dessix due to their skill and hospitality.

Being a tiny planet, Dessix had a strange gravitational pull. Viha being from a big world where the gravity was exceedingly high, made the transition to the lighter gravity on Dessix somewhat tricky. Prion’s gravity was regulated artificially; initially, the planet had a very high pull making it difficult for humans who came from outer space to move around; they were nearly twelve times heavier than they would be in the ship in orbit. Although Aargon being from Prion, also found the gravity of Dessix very light, he could not imagine a world not having an artificial gravity generator to maintain the standard pull of the Earth.

By the time they reached the main hall, they were very much used to the gravitational pull, though many other things drew their attention from the moment they stepped out of the transporter.

The Citadel towered high above the canopy of the jungle, Aargon was used to seeing very tall buildings, but this one that stood alone in a sea of trees just seemed so much bigger than anything else he had ever seen. Though they couldn’t take a good look at the towering structure as they were rushed along to the main hall.

The temperature within the great hall was cold; like the rest of the world, it had dampness that did not cease; the fog infiltrated even the great halls. However, the building floors, to Aargon and Viha’s surprise was dry and as clean as clean can be. There was not a single drop, dust, or paper to be seen anywhere. Likewise, the grand hall itself was empty and clean; nothing was hanging from the walls or furnished the space in any way or form. In the center was the only thing to behold in the entire room. It was a large display case with hundreds of fragments of the ruins found on Dessix floating inside on display. Izzar had noticed a few of them were removed and wondered whether or not they’d discovered something new on them.

Ramon had not yet returned for them; they were still standing and staring at one another. Izzar noticed how gently Viha’s tunic and armor sat on her body; he admired it but did not show it. He could see she was carrying some concealed weapons, no doubt for the use of self-defense or in a sudden attack. It would be very effective to take someone down; they would have no chance to block or exchange an attack if she suddenly moved to attack. Moreover, her boots seemed solid, comfortable to wear, and would help her be swift and cunning in an attack.

Aargon wore a simple, comfortable trek suite below heavy robes; it was the robes of the Lybrarius Society; it was meant to help the Archivists in the Grand Library carry around more data pads than what they could with their bare hands. He was very tall and skinny; it seemed like Aargon also needed rest; his eyes were dark and sunken; he had been through a lot.

Ramon returned, breaking the silence amongst the three; it felt to all of them like they had long conversations together in that short time just staring at one another. They were waiting very eagerly to see the Epsimus; their eagerness was about to be put to rest.

“Epsimus Thanatos has informed me that he is ready to receive you in the Galactic Audience Chamber.”

Without asking or indicating the other Monks gently pushed them in the direction of the chamber, Viha shrugged her shoulder as one of the Monks placed their hands on her. She looked at the Monk with great disgust; she didn’t want anyone touching her.

Finally, they were in front of the Galactic Audience Chamber door; whether or not they were ready to meet this elusive man was not Ramon’s problem. He turned to them once again.

“Do not forget the rules I’ve given you, have respect and be at your best behavior; the Epsimus is not a man you want to anger.”

They all, including Izzar, nodded in unison. Izzar had not seen his master for a couple of days and was eager, hoping he would have a moment alone with the old man to be able to clear up a few things about what had happened. Though he was not hopeful, he was sure that he wouldn’t get the opportunity to do so any time soon. Sometimes it was agony to him to not be able to speak to Thanatos directly, but for the most part, he was used to the culture of the Order and understood the importance of traditions and protocols.

Izzar stood before the large doors; he was to enter the room first. He had a slight sweat on his brow; he’s been in there multiple times before, but this time was going to be different; he could feel it in his bones. The doors swung open, letting a gush of cool air out and into the grand hall. Izzar took another deep breath as he felt the eager eyes of those behind him pierce through the back of his skull. He took one step forward and forgot his nervousness, and entered.