Soul Steel

Chapter 1

Seventy years had passed since the movement of the world to the use of 'Soul Steel'. When Adamant was found to possess the ability to draw out the abilities hidden within a person it is bound to, it changed the world. Many used these powers and weapons to steal from other, be it their money or their lives. Regular guns became all but obsolete in the face of this great power and even the famously destructive power of the nuclear weapons of old paled in the face of some of the great powers that soul steel had given some individuals.

There was no recognizable pattern of who got what abilities, so the media decided to produce the idea that the ability you got was determined by the qualities of your soul, which led to the mass movement to call the metal 'Soul Steel', instead of its chemical name, Adamant. Soul Steel was bound to people through a ritual known only to the Parime Organization, which evolved from a cult about 60 years ago that worshipped the metal as if it really was used to castrate a god.

The Parime Organization, or ParO as the Media calls them, basically became the dominant force in each facet of the market. When they first found the way to get the metal to resonate with the soul, they became the leading contractors hired by European governments to supplement their militaries. It only took 3 years for ParO to have a hand in every country in the G8's military. ParO used this to institute the unification of the 13 largest military countries into a global utopia, with open invitation to any other country willing to join. This was the start of the 57 year long world peace we live in.

The previous countries were now regions and there was mass inter-trade throughout. ParO, along with the original G8 office's representatives became known as Agartha. The primary goal of Agartha was the maintenance of the peace we were living through the use of 13 academies placed in the countries associated with the G8's original locations. These Schools became the Parime Academies, named after the original organization that started it all.

One of the original member of Agartha when it was created 57 years ago, Killian Rose, became the worlds richest man. On the surface, he marketed guns to those who didn't have the aptitude to bond with Soul Steel, as well as running several night clubs throughout the American region and up into the Canadian region. Behind closed doors, his fortune was made in the bloody hands of the previous mobs. The mafia's were unable to keep up with the innovations in technology and became less than effective in any of their various malignant practices. So they all suddenly disappeared and if a few million extra dollars ended up in Killian's pocket each year from less-than-desirable source, who would put a stop to it?

Killian's weapons were the only weapons that could successfully hurt someone through Soul Steel barrier, which was designed to prevent anything short of soul steel from getting through. Soul Steel barrier was designed to replace Kevlar for police officers, which it did effectively until Rose-Grade machine guns ended up in the hands of people who didn't much care for the law. Although the world was at a global level of peace, many regions had increasingly difficult times with controlling the population through the use of only police forces, which was what the Parime Academies were built for. Parime Academy graduates, lovingly referred to as Primes by the public.

Primes were the boogie man to the general public of nasty individuals. They had full authority to bring anyone into custody for questioning without any justification at all. This led to quite a bit of misfortune with Prime's in it for their own personal gain.

Our story starts in the library, as all good stories do.

The Rose Family unfortunately did not stop at just Killian Rose. The man had found a woman greedy enough to let him sow his wild oats, six times. And yet there was seven Rose children.

The Rose children were all celebrities in the public's eye. Some of the rose children took to it like fish to water. The oldest of the Rose children, Gabriel, became a playboy superstar. The second oldest, Falcon, became a young entrepreneur to follow in his father's footsteps, wading through blood waste high. Gabriel was no better, but he at least gave you his famous grin as he stabbed you in the back for personal gain. The Oldest daughter, Elise, was the least public of the three oldest siblings. She was only in the public eye when hanging off her two older brothers. In the underground world, she was all the more infamous though. She was a world renowned assassin who went by the name Allah. The next child in the line of monsters Killian Rose had produced was Damian Rose. The child prodigy was only 21 but had become one of the lead designers for weapons at Rose Co. His gun designs were second to none, and his father recognized his work with high praise. The final demon that Killian spawned was Caitlyn Rose. Caitlyn was an actress in high publicity movies, but was often in the public disgraces as she was always in the news for drinking, drugs, and anything else she decided was worth her time. If only the public knew that not only was she doing them but they were her products. She was popular in the underground as an expert fence and drug lord.

The last blood child of Killian Rose was unlike any of her Siblings. Blaine Rose was a loud boisterous girl of 18 that had claimed the public's attention from an extremely young age. She was as charismatic as the oldest Rose, but with none of his bad qualities. She liked to help people and she loved to talk to people, which the media(of course) loved.

The final child of Killian Rose was not blood related to him at all. This child was the adopted child of a woman Killian fell in love with. The woman had been pregnant with the boy when Killian met her and she had passed away before she ever got to hold her child. The assassination's of public diplomats was a hot topic, but the assassination of a public diplomat's affair was far from the news's eyes. Killian covered it up and adopted the child so that his disgraceful actions could never come to light. After all, if the world renowned mercenary couldn't even protect the woman he was cheating on his wife with, who would hire him.

The pubic was given a tall tale about how the boy was an orphan Killian had seen on the street and had decided to adopt out of the good of his heart. Most accepted this but those who knew Killian well suspected foul play. This led to a string of assassination attempts.

The public however had no idea that Killian had been teaching his children since they could walk how to bond with Soul Steel. All seven children were given a large amount of soul steel early on which the bound to, to unlock their innate abilities. This steel would be developed into their weapons as they grew older.

Normally when a child turns 14 they may move into lower grade Parime Academy. This was where the secrets of Soul Steel were taught and people got to design the weapon that would become their permanent partner. If you bound your soul to a chunk of Adamant and it was broken by another's Soul bound adamant, it would shatter your soul and you would pass on from this life. This was a lesson enforced in the seven children from a young age. Never let your opponent's weapon be stronger than yours, or you will pay.

The seven children were years ahead in training by time they got to 14 and were allowed to even attend the lower Parime Academy. Six of them all jumped at the chance to attend the school. Five of these six chose to do so to humiliate and beat anyone they had the chance to. One chose to join to master the art of being a Prime, and to make friends along the way.

The seventh child is not hard to guess.

Azure Pratt, adopted seventh son of Killian Rose. Never in view of the public, scorned by his older siblings, and rarely shown any attention at all. The only time Killian had ever looked him in the eye was to express how important it was that nobody ever sever your soul steel with theirs after you had bound to it. This was something Azure found extremely significant and led to the development of his weapon's design.

Azure stayed out of Lower Parime Academy, in favor of training himself on his own. Nobody had ever seen his weapon and lived to tell about it, not even his siblings or father. Azure had only ever used his weapon when face to face with the hired assassins of those who questioned his existence. Why had Killian let a street rat into his home? Many in both the G8 and the underground found it almost insulting and resolved to get rid of him their selves, although none had succeeded.

Finally the time had come. At age 18, any man or woman was permitted to take the entrance exam to a Parime Academy. No prior experience at alternative lower Parime Academies were required, and it wasn't even required that you be bound to Soul Steel prior to applying. So finally Azure stepped into the light and out of Killian Rose's shadow.