[ 01 - CHAPTER ONE ]

― cruel and unusual punishment ―

The planet of Saros was not one that received many visitors. It was a planet of hostility and spite – a planet that took pride in how it bred war and combat. Not even alien diplomats visited Saros often, as they preferred to either communicate electronically or even avoid the battle-central world altogether.

At first glance, however, no person would be able to tell any of these things. From a distance, Saros was breathtakingly beautiful; there was no doubt about that. Every inch of every building and street corner shone with sparkling cleanliness, and nearly every building reflected the sun's rays with an entrancing glimmer. It was almost guaranteed that any guest would be blown away by the sheer glamour the environment held.

Even the people of Saros had an appearance of flawless beauty. The members of the royal Atlas family were indisputably the most attractive of all the Sarosian natives. With their striking features and luscious brown hair, Orion, Titania, and Cosmo – the three descendants of the monarch – prided themselves in their attractiveness and charisma, a notion that was not lost on any soul that found itself in the presence of the trio. On top of their behavior and physical looks, they also took pride in the armies they raised. Following the ancient tradition of their society, each child was tasked with training an elite army of their own, and every one of these armies was just as large and efficient as the collective army of Saros.

As is true in any situation where a single person holds large amounts of power, there was always a danger of corruption that hung above the Atlas' heads. Fortunately, that poisonous, snake-like corruption was only able to slither its way into the mind of one of the royal children: Orion. The symptoms were small and trivial at first. Slight deviations from traditional training routines didn't seem to draw much attention his way, even when those deviations led to his trainees receiving fatal injuries. The injuries were simply brushed aside as inconvenient accidents. Accidents that Orion's father, King Castor, chose to ignore.

It was only when those injuries became a steady occurrence that Castor interceded, and he did so with the support of his entire country behind him.

◈◈◈

"I have a message for Prince Orion. The king is requesting his presence."

The two guards that were on duty had no need to question the legitimacy of the messenger that stood before them. Though he was rather unseemly and an unlikely being to be seen in the capital of Saros, he was accompanied by Titania Atlas herself – the second eldest child of Castor and Pandora Atlas.

The two iron doors that stood in their path were pulled open with a groan, and the scrawny messenger boy hurried through as if he were afraid the doors would close on him at any moment.

"Your Highness?" the tallest guard spoke. "You're not going with him?"

Titania's gaze briefly swept over the armored man, and the smirk that always seemed to linger on her face grew. Her voice carried a tone similar to that of ringing bells as she answered, "I didn't think there was a need to. Enceladus is a grown man." Her eyebrow lifted in amusement as she continued her one-sided playful banter. "He can deliver a message well enough, don't you think?"

The guards exchanged glances with one another. Titania could tell just by looking at them what they were thinking. They were both young and objectively attractive, and both had come into contact with the princess enough times to know how she typically acted, so they were not at all surprised with the way she seemed to be looking at them. They were more fearful than shocked. If things escalated and either of the guards decided to make a bold move, Titania could have them killed at once. On the contrary, if they kept their distance and refused to encourage her flirtations, they could just as easily be put to death for that.

"Besides," Titania said as she took a few steps toward the guard on the right, making him considerably more uncomfortable, "I'd much rather stay out here with you gentlemen."

◈◈◈

While Titania attempted to seduce the youthful sentinels for no reason other than the fact that she was bored, Enceladus rushed into the training arena that Orion and his soldiers resided in. His footsteps were nearly silent against the marble floor he scuttled across. As he timidly entered Orion's presence, and, consequently, the presence of and entire fourth of the militia, his head was tucked down and his shoulders hunched. Despite his regal name, Enceladus' posture and conduct was quite the opposite.

"Your Highness?" he squeaked, trying to gain the attention of the prince that stood mere feet away from him.

However, even as Enceladus practically trembled in fear of having to gain his attention, Orion's focus was on something else entirely.

Orion stood on a pedestal at the very front of the vast, obstacle-riddled arena he was in. In every direction he looked, his league of soldiers stood facing him, their eyes wide in anticipation of their general's next order. Orion had ordered them to attention a few seconds before Enceladus walked in, so he was so enveloped in his conversation with the kneeling man in front of him that he didn't notice the small messenger. No one did. All of them - even the higher-ranking warriors - were petrified by the words coming out of their prince's mouth and by the direction his conversation seemed to be heading in.

"You're sorry?" Orion boomed. His voice had a slight growl to it, and it grew as he continued to lose his temper. "One of my soldiers is injured because of you! His eye has swollen to half the size of my hand!"

"I-I apologize, Your Highness. I didn't think it would harm him," the young soldier said, not daring to look up and opting for staring at the ground instead.

Orion scoffed. His eyes burned with a cold and cruel fire that no one other than his trainees and enemies had ever seen before, and his left eyebrow rose in an expression similar to annoyance. His manner of speech was similar to that of a lion's- waiting for the perfect moment to pounce and strike his victim - as he spoke, "Remind me of your age, soldier."

"Seventeen, sir."

An almost inhuman-sounding, vicious laugh emanated from the lips of the dark-haired leader. "You're seventeen years old - practically a grown man at this point - and you didn't know that a spider would bite someone if given the opportunity? You're telling me you didn't realize putting a spider in someone's bed would end badly?"

The teenage soldier with bright blue eyes let out a soft sob. His hands trembled, and he lowered himself to the ground even more as a sign of submission.

"Please, Your Highness," he whimpered, resorting to begging his superior for mercy. "Please. I didn't mean for any of this to happen, I...I had no idea-"

"No," Orion snapped. "Of course you didn't."

The Atlas child took a few steps forward and bent down until he could see eye-to-eye with the kneeling boy. He had a wicked grin on his face, and not even the frightened look on his soldier's face fazed him as he thought about what he would say next. It didn't matter that the man in front of him was still in the beginning stages of his adulthood - there had to be punishment, or the order Orion had worked so hard for would be lost. The next time he opened his mouth to speak, he drew out his words so that each syllable could be heard loud and clear.

"You were foolish. You messed up. And now your little prank is going to bear consequences," he said.

The enlisted man in front of him said nothing in response - he only shivered and presumably prayed that he would be spared.

Orion rose to his feet once more, looking down upon the sorrowful child bowing to him, yet feeling no remorse or guilt for what he was about to do. He didn't hesitate in the slightest when he turned to his highest-ranking officers, calling them to attention. They snapped into place.

"Gentlemen," he addressed them, his voice echoing across the entire training arena. "I need you to escort this young man to his quarters. Tie him to his bed, gag him, and then leave him be."

When looks of confusion spread across the officers' faces, Orion added, "He will be at the mercy of his peers."

Eager chuckles could be heard from various people in the crowd. Orion turned around and walked in the opposite direction of the boy he had just condemned to a cruel fate, not feeling so much as a pang of sympathy even as the young soldier screamed at the top of his lungs for a ceasing of his punishment. The prince knew what he'd done when he made the order - he knew many of the army men would beat him and possibly sneak weapons into their quarters to use against the seventeen-year-old - he just didn't care. He had to keep his men in line, and he had to prove his authority every once in a while. Sometimes that meant making an example out of someone.

"Prince Orion."

Orion's gaze landed on the man who had spoken, and he immediately recognized him as Enceladus: one of the royal family's messengers charged with the duty of transferring communications across the palace grounds.

"Enceladus," he said. "Is there something you need from me?"

"Y-yes, Your Highness. The king is requesting your presence in the Council Hall," Enceladus spoke, his eyes nervously flitting back and forth.

Orion nodded, internally deciding that he would go to his father at a later time. He was busy acting as the general of his army, and there was much more that needed to be done if he was to lead his men into battle at any time in the near future.

"Your Highness?" the messenger piped up again.

Orion rolled his eyes before turning back to Enceladus. His voice carried a hint of annoyance as he said, "By the gods, Enceladus, what is it this time?"

"King Castor said it was urgent. He wants you there immediately."

The prince in question let out a huff before turning towards the doors Enceladus has entered through. He quickly ran a hand through his hair and effortlessly glided to the exit, knocking on one of the doors with his knuckle to let the guards on the other side know he wanted to leave. No response came, and Orion frowned. He glanced at the messenger next to him, who just shrugged in ignorance of what was going on with the guards on the other side of the doors. Orion tried knocking again, louder and more urgently this time.

The massive doors swung open on their hinges, revealing a woman in fitted armor and two startled-looking guards, one of whom was adjusting their hair.

"Titania," Orion greeted the woman, taking note of how she kept eyeing the disheveled door guardian. "I see you've been toying with the guards again."

"Well, it's a pleasure to see you too, brother."

Titania's silky voice reached Orion's ears as she matched his stride, both Atlas descendants leaving Enceladus behind and heading towards the Council Room. When Orion and Titania stood next to each other, it was strikingly obvious that they were siblings. Both walked the same way, with their shoulders held back and their feet moving in long, smooth strides. Neither of the Atlas' could be considered petite - Orion had an exceptional lean, muscular build, as did his sister. Their features were shockingly similar down to the shapes of their noses and how their eyes turned down at the ends. The only thing about the two that was different were their personalities, and that was obvious to anyone who held a single conversation with either of them.

Once the pair was out of earshot of the guards, Orion scolded his younger sibling by saying, "People are going to start questioning your authority if you continue to behave in such a way."

Titania shrugged, her smirk becoming more playful. "At least I'm not in your shoes. You're in big trouble this time."

"What are you talking about?"

"Dad doesn't seem very happy. He called the council to order spontaneously. The whole council, and he never does that."

Orion shook his head. "And how do you know the meeting is because of me? Me, you, and Cosmo get called to council meetings all the time. What makes this meeting any different?"

Titania cocked her head to one side. Orion could tell by the look on her face that she was keeping something from him, and she doubted she was going to tell him.

"I don't know for sure," she started. "I just find it sort of odd that after months of council inactivity, we're having a meeting mere days after you go on a blood-run with your army."

Orion wanted to deny what his sister was saying and tell her she was wrong. Why would his father - the king of an entire planet, who surely had more important things to do - call to order a meeting with the whole council about his eldest son? Orion tried to think of something he had done run within the last few days, and he came across nothing except the suggestion Titania had made. And his father couldn't be upset with him for that. He'd assigned his son an army to train for a reason. Orion's siblings instigated battles against other small planets all the time. Why wouldn't he be allowed to?

However, just as he was assuring himself that Titania had simply been fooling around with him about the true reason for the impromptu meeting, he began to overhear voices as they neared the Council Hall. Voices that were discussing Orion and his recent actions. Voices that spoke strongly against Orion as a person. Finally, he heard his father's voice above all the others.

"I understand your concerns, and that is why I have called this meeting to order. We'll discuss possible...disciplinary actions for Orion as soon as he gets here, however...until he does, no one say a word about the true reason for this assembly. We don't want Orion to get defensive before we even get a chance to explain ourselves."

Author's Note:

Thank you all so much for reading this story! I'm feeling somewhat uncertain about it, as it's the first chapter I've ever written completely in 3rd person, but nonetheless I hope you guys enjoy it.

Also, let me know what you guys honestly think about Orion. I absolutely love writing him, but that doesn't necessarily mean you guys love him. And, believe it or not, I don't expect you to, because he is kind of a jerk at this point in the story.

Anyway, feel free to give me feedback on this! I'd love to know how you guys feel about things.