Tales of Zeroth

The young Nero ate his fill, as the morning sun was being covered by the harsh blizzard of the city. The crown prince of Zan was a title he carried, but the chosen was not one he bore. Around him was his family, people he really didn't care about, and people he knew cared little about things not for their own benefit.

"I want a new dragon, our old one's getting too old," exclaimed the greedy mother, her wicked smile not fitting of her title as Queen of Zania, "Should we increase the tax on the people?"

At the suggestion, the lustful father known as the King nodded, "That would be good yes, afterall, didn't you want to go to the Empire of Mizumi?" His sweet words were ones like glass, fragile, and the young Nero saw through it. His lustful father would bring in women while his wife was gone, not like his mother was better, afterall, Nero didn't even know if the King was his true father.

So on the day when Zania was on the brink of annihilation, when the demon, Baraka the Bloodborne killed Zan's only great soldier, the Stormbringer Harley Zerith; the royal family fled as the city was being destroyed.

But they didn't go far, as behind their backs, Nero murdered his parents, his rage igniting into a furious display of rebellion. And as he looked upon the nation he was supposed to take care of being burnt and destroyed, the young boy walked all the way to the top of the biggest building he could find, and jumped off.

Yet suddenly, his eyes opened, his body now bigger, "Another dream huh?" Nero remarked as he looked upon the concrete ceiling of the place he called home. As the elf looked around him, he saw the two most valuable beings in his life, his wife, the goblin, Manai, who was snuggling next to him; and his daughter, Mino, who was crawling outside of their place, "MINO!!" Nero shouted as his body rushed to get her.

Fortunately, the desperate father got his little daughter, all while his wife slept. Nero sighed at the display of the goblin's trait to have a very deep sleep.

"Hopefully when you grow older Mino, you'll take daddy's sleeping style more than mommy's okay?" When he was younger, the crown Prince Nero fell and died as he hit the waters of the Calri River. What emerged was a new person, one who stripped his title as the crown prince; he then was eventually adopted by a goblin family, where he would find the love of his life.

As Nero fed Mino the fruits he had brought the previous day, he found it hard to control his daughter, who was making it clear she wanted to go outside.

Nero sighed, "Alright, but let's get you prepared okay?" But even as Nero was putting layers on her to keep her warm in the cold streets, Mino's excited dances made it hard for him, "If only mommy was awake," he expressed in a slightly annoyed tone, side-eyeing the sleeping goblin.

When Nero had finally finished putting the layers on Mino, he exited his home. The street looked to be calm, with no battles going on or rival streets wanting authority, just, the normal chaos Nero liked. Kids ran around as parents did chores and jobs with enough joy that it made Nero forget the struggles for a few minutes.

But as Nero walked around, a woman washing clothes near her home saw him, "Nero!" She called, "Ga'Trul was calling for you, said it involved street activities." Hearing his name, Nero sighed as he thanked the woman.

"Welp, I guess we're going to Uncle Ga'Trul," Nero brightly remarked towards Mino as he continued to walk, now with a purpose. As the elf made it towards a downward staircase, he readied himself as he went down it. He opened a door, and saw a group of people from all races gathered up, discussing.

They all turned to Nero, but the one Nero turned to was a bald orc who was sitting on a chair with a desk in front of it. Seeing him, the orc smiled, "Morning brother, is Manai awake yet?" Remarked the orc, Ga'Trul.

Nero smiled as one of the people there offered to carry Mino, "Take a guess," Nero joked as he approached the orc, grasping his hands firmly as they met shoulders, "Glad to see your fine Trul."

Ga'Trul chuckled as he heard this, "So you've heard about the attack yesterday?" Nero nodded at the orc's question.

"Yeah, Manai told me Yohona Street brought thirty of their people here," Nero remarked, his smile fading as his eyebrows curled and his eye contact moved away. The underground city was a brutal place, filled with gangs who dreamt of control of it.

These gangs brought either pain or prosperity to the streets they looked after. Nero and his family belonged in Vaza Street, one controlled by Ga'Trul and his gang. Fortunately for the three, Ga'Trul was a kind orc, one who grew up with Nero and Manai.

"Hopefully Manai wasn't too injured," the orc expressed as his gaze shifted down, "I'm sorry for getting her involved."

Nero's gaze returned to the orc, his face looking sympathetic, "Don't worry about it, Manai's a tough goblin." Ga'Trul chuckled at Nero's words.

"That she is." Nero sat on one of the chairs as Ga'Trul continued his news about their supplies. But after he was done, he called Nero in for a private talk.

"So, what do you want to discuss?" Nero asked as he laid his daughter on the ground, letting her freely crawl.

Ga'Trul thought about his words carefully before he opened his mouth, but as he finished, he took a deep breath, "Nero… please join us in the offensive, we need your gift and strength."

"No," Nero flat-out responded in a stern tone, "I have told you ever since we were sixteen, I will not join the offensive front."

Ga'Trul expected this response, "Please Nero, we need more strength to take over land, people are being exploited."

Nero's face twitched a bit at the word, although he was sympathetic, he knew it was temporary. Nero found out that the reason why the underground city was in the state it was in, was because it didn't have enough resources, leading everyone to battle for the little things it had.

So Nero figured that if more resources came, the underground would flourish, and he was already seeing it, "Trul, they won't be like that for longer, I assure you, the King will come with the riches he took from the nations he is currently taking over, we will flourish soon enough."

Ga'Trul sat in contemplation, "Nero, are you sure?"

"Sure as I can be," he replied, picking Mino back up as he prepared to leave, "Is that all? I reckon Manai's awake now."

The orc still had a lot of thoughts going on inside his head, but as he looked at his friend's child, he knew what was the right thing to do, "Yeah that's it, have a good day, maybe I'll stop by after I'm done organizing things."

The two left with smiles on their faces, as Nero made it back to his home, there he saw his wife was indeed awake. Groaning and rolling around like the clumsy goblin she was.

Nero chuckled, "Morning," he greeted as he began to take Mino's layers off.

"Mornin'," Manai responded as Mino crawled up towards her when Nero was finished, "Did you two go outside?"

"Yeah, we went to Trul's house to attend a meeting, he's worrying about the future of the underground city again," Nero dismissively remarked as he bent down and began to cut some apples.

But as he was met with silence as Manai sat up, holding Mino tightly, "I'm also worried, ya'know?"

Nero turned to his wife, seeing his typically carefree wife display a worried look. Nero came closer to her as he fed her a slice of apple, "Don't worry, I believe in the King that he'll return with riches soon."

At his statement, Manai managed to produce a small smile, "Your confidence in that King is astonishing, although, I can see why," she responded, coming closer to Nero as they sat in light chatter.

Nero believed their King would break the curse of the flawed royal, for he saw a lot of himself in that King, albeit with will and confidence he would never have. Nero saw him as Zania's great savior, the chosen, of the hopeless.