Agent of The Nine

CHAPTER I: HOPE

Jupiter, a planet that once was considered to be the cornerstone of Golden Age civilization, the land that was once a dream to every agricultural corporation to live in due to its massively rich minerals and materials, is now nothing but a ghost planet. Now ice-encrusted, abandoned cities, world-spanning oceans, and colossal buildings smashed into rubble are all that remain. There is one settlement, however, that still lives, an enormous tribe that built their own fortune. They called it "Arroyo". The true founders of the tribe were veteran warriors from Earth who were fighting against the Darkness. Fortunately enough, they were protected under the barrier that is the Light, made by the sleeping Traveler. Although the feeling of failure of defending the Sol System was trapped inside their spirit to bear, they still had their other side of their spirit to look up to: Hope. They had hoped to rebuild, and rebirth what civilization had made before the dark storm, and that they did. With a few obstacles and helping hands from the refugees who were able to partake in such a task, they had built an early bastion that was filled with opportunities to grasp, an ocean of potential situated in the hills overlooking the hostile embrace of Jupiter. After many hardships in the early stages of the tribe, they flourished themselves with wealth. Beautiful plants of Jupiter started to blossom in their unfamiliar "photosynthesis" of the alien planet. Miners had luck by their side when they hit the jackpot of raw materials. The traveler had blessed the tribe with the light barrier, protecting them from any Darkness. The people of Arroyo sought peace and prosperity within the tribe. "Doesn't this remind you of something?" asked one of the veterans his associate as he approached him, gazing at the humble works of the tribe. "It's just like home..." replied the veteran. A few years afterward came that day that brought joy to the whole tribe of Arroyo, the birth of a new child. However, that day was different, unlike any other day.

One day, the afar sun appeared after long hours of gloominess. It was always rather interesting for the people of Arroyo to glance at the distant sun considering that Jupiter remains quite far away from it. To the people of the tribe, the presence of the sun would usually mean that a miracle would happen, a great miracle that would change them. It was in the morning, the rocky, patterned walkways between the yellowish-white tribal huts were in complete silence. Mists of snow usually appear in the mornings, but not this one. An old woman was sitting peacefully and quietly on her old wooden wheelchair with her pet birds. Some were on her shoulder and others were on her wheelchair. She was the only woman in the tribe who would sit outside this early in the morning with her eyes closed and feels the Jupitar breeze and the ambiance of its atmosphere. That is until a man, a one-eyed, muscular veteran looking both excited and worried, barged through the walkways with a big bowl of water, sprinting as fast as he could. For the first time in so long, the old woman felt interrupted with his presence. Her pet birds flew away and her eyes opened with anger, she stood up tiringly and cried out with an accent "Lousy noise head! Keep it down!" There always be that day when a man is looking anxious when his infant is arriving.

With a few sweat droplets, he reached his home. "No no, there is no time for resting, Mikal. Your infant is coming!" Exclaimed his friend, Nabou, as he saw him panting rapidly from out of breath with the bowl of water on his hands. Nabou was Mikal's good friend and an adept warrior from the Black Armory days, they never left each other's side in their difficult times, always seeming to see each other eye to eye. Mikal headed in nervously, he swiftly, however gently, opened the door only to realize that he was far late, as he briefly glanced at his wife, Diana, with a huge smile of awe on his face. The doctor looked at Mikal from the back and stood up. "You have a boy now, veteran. May the good faith guide his way and protect the born child." Diana was joined by her husband's presence with tears of joy in her eyes. "So, what do we call him?" She asked. Mikal did not respond as eyes were locked on to his newborn son for some time. He held his lad carefully and aloud he said: "for the faith of the great tribe, Xur!" And so the boy was named and blessed by the monks of the Light, bearing the mark of Light on his forward. A few hours later, the whole tribe had been delighted with the wonderful news. They had set colorful beacons in the center of the tribe. People laughed, danced, and sang, celebrating the birth of a new child. It was a tribal custom to celebrate such an event, as the monks believed that a newborn would give signals to the goddess of light, the Traveler, to wake her up from her abyssal sleep. Even high confessor Umbrus, the leader of the tribe, came down to see the child. It was a day for the couple to remember.