Somewhere Between the Sea and the Sky.

Episode 0: Chapter 1.

That night the flames invaded the city of Ethia, making their way to the royal palace. The rulers tried to hide in their great homes in the capital while the town was engulfed in panic. Every poor soul ran away, possessed by fear, and covered themselves with the huge walls that kept them away from the vulgar townspeople.

However, there was no battle in the streets.

What happened there?

Just a few hours ago, even minutes, everything was quiet, but then a large figure appeared on the horizon beyond the port. Not many noticed it until it was closer and a sound rumbled in the place; a laugh, laughter that revealed the identity of the approaching ship. That was the laugh of the Aurora's captain, a voice that reached everyone in the port and city.

The Aurora was a strong, fast ship with black sails; a well known pirate one. The fame of the crew preceded them, as they had accomplished terrifying feats despite being only three men in the crew. The stories were not few nor discreet, but the best known of its members was undoubtedly the captain: It was said of him that he was a man of ruthless anger, capable of terrorizing any beast with just his gaze. The only thing about him better known than his terrifying fame was his bond with his ship. His soul was said to be connected to Aurora's, that neither of them could be sunk while the other was still there, a captain tied to his ship to death.

The embodiment of the well known quote, the captain goes down with their ship.

But despite all the stories, how he looked like was still unknown. The crew didn't usually expose themselves to anyone, so their appearance had no more definition than the inventions of the sailors.

However, there they were. The laughter of the captain was enough to terrorize those in the port of the capital, and the curiosity to know how the crew of the Aurora looked like wasn't stronger than the fear. It wasn't long until the news reached the town and, moments later, the palace. The moment when two large buildings, each on one side of the city, caught fire in unison, they all knew that those pirates hadn't docked there by chance.

And just like that, it all started. A quiet day that had been destroyed in just a moment by pirates. It wasn't a novelty that these sailors were not exactly friends of the nobility, but one of the palace nobles was particularly upset.

Not about the pirates themselves, though.

It was a young man with brown hair. He wasn't very corpulent nor excessively large, the elegant clothes did not reveal much of his physique except for his face, but one could easily notice an actual strong body under the fabric. The most strikingathing was a birthmark next to one of his eyes and the sharp look that he maintained despite the situation of panic. His name was Kang Yeosang, although the people knew him as the Night Prince.

"Come on, have you even seen a pirate before?"

He pronounced with some indignation, being heard only by the servants who accompanied him. They had been ordered to guide the prince to his chambers, shut him in, and serve him until the crisis passed. He was the only one who stayed calm, as if he didn't fear the sea robbers.

"This is the Aurora my lord... They are not just pirates."

"No pirate has ever entered the palace before, why would they be able to do it?"

Yeosang received no response, he was pushed to finally enter his room instead. The prince's chambers were big and opulent, so there would be no problem with three people hanging out there until everything calmed down. One of the servants made sure to lock the absurdly big door and put some furniture in front of it, just in case, while the other one closed all the windows in the room.