Rise of the Nadir: Zero Point

Covers the Glassing of Shambhala, Mihli meeting Vince, and up till the start of Fall Harvest Arc in the Rise of the Nadir story arc.

Characters

 * Mihli Lilty - The future, greatest queen of the Estellion Sky Empire.
 * Vince - An explorer, wanderer, and friend of Shrike, Maetel, and Esmira.

Episode 0 P.1
"People die, but you can't do anything." "You're wrong!" Mihli responds to the voice in her mind. "Your father died, because you can't do anything," the voice continues. "You're wrong!" She yells at the voice desperately. "I'm not wrong," the voice tells her confidently. "You're wrong!" Mihli says once again, the voice continues, "Everything... is yours. Release me. Open your eyes. Control... everything. Everything before your eyes, is yours. The World is yours." Mihli begins to scream, which quickly turns into a sadistic laugh, one of the soldiers lifts Mihli's head and asks if she's become demented. Mihli's eyes glow and she tells him to die. The soldier takes out a knife and slits his own throat, his blood spills on Mihli and the other soldiers. The other soldiers yell at her asking what she did, Mihli looks at them, a sadistic smile on her face and her eyes, a deep red crimson.
 * Slan, Leader of the Pegassus Clan's White Pegassus Knights arrives on Estel, she is escorting an important guest in a carriage. The People of Estel are celebrating her return.
 * M. Flores, one of the Knight Captains of the palace rides up to greet her, he asks if the one in the carriage is the one, she tells him yes and he takes a look. Inside the carriage, a young girl in ragged clothing is sitting in an upright fetal position, her eyes devoid of emotion.
 * Flores scolds Slan about the girl's clothing, but Slan tells him that the girl wouldn't agree to change her clothing no matter what. Flores remarks how still it is a wonder that this single girl escaped the glassing of Shambhala.
 * The girl holds her legs tighter at the mention of the glassing.
 * Flashback - Dead bodies lying everywhere, a red sky, a red night, the red earth, and a girl with red eyes, covered in red.
 * The carriage stops and Maetel Lilty, newly crowned ruler of the Estellion Empire, comes out to greet them. Behind her follow a troop of guards and her servant Tinte. She opens the carriage door and is surprised to see that the young girl inside looks almost identical to her. She orders Tinte to get her cleaned up and rested.
 * Tinte is washing Mihli with the help of a few servants, she thinks to herself how the three sisters really are identical.
 * Maetel Lilty, sister to Mihli and Maetel Lilty, walks by and takes a glance at Mihli, the two's eyes meet and Maetel is disturbed by the lack of emotion in Mihli's eyes.
 * Tinte brings Mihli into the grand chamber, Slan, M.Flores, Maetel, and a few others are sitting discussing things, she helps the girl to her seat and after sitting down. Maetel asks for the girl's name, the girl's lifeless and devoid eyes begin to stir with life.
 * Flashback -
 * Stotle, the head of the Turtle Clan, heads outside one morning to discover a woman curled up in front of the temple gates. He shakes his head in sadness realizing the woman froze to death and decides to go get others, before he hears the sound of a child. He rushes to the woman's body and sees that she used her body heat to help her child survive the night, he picks up the child and carries it along with him.
 * Stotle is cradling the child when one of his fellow clan members enters, he is told that the child's mother's identity could not be found, Stotle saddens his eyes and tells the clan member to prepare a funeral service.
 * At the woman's funeral service, the clan members whisper about how unfortunate the child is, that she will have to grow up in an orphanage. Stotle hears this and his eyes become resolute.
 * During a council meeting Stotle surprises the council by telling them he will adopt the child as his own.
 * When he returns home, Stotle's sister asks him if he's thought of a name, because without a name the child will not have an identity. Stotle decides to name the child Mihli after the newly crowned Apex, Maetel Lilty. He note that while Maetel means, "To be given destiny," Mihli means to, "grasp it."
 * The girl tells the council that her name is Mihli, a surprised look comes over everyone's face. Slan remarks how it is an ill omen, but Esmira enters the room and speaks, correcting her, telling her that the name is quite appropriate for a Lilty.
 * Mihli responds asking what she means by that and Maetel hugs Mihli telling her that they are sisters and that she is henceforth known as Mihli Lilty and welcomes her home.
 * The words of home resonate within her Mihli's mind and she sees a glimpse of Stotle smiling back at her, her eyes soften and she hugs Maetel tightly, Maetel notices it and continues to hold Mihli while smiling.
 * Flores scratches his head and tells everyone they should call it a day and leave the incident discussion until tomorrow, he doesn't wanna ruin a moment. Slan raises an objection but he just puts an arm around her and invites her to drink with him.
 * The next morning Esmira invites Mihli out to watch Slan and other White Pegasus Knights morning practice.
 * Slan is fighting one of her officers and Esmira makes a few remarks about how galant they look, Mihli watches the fight without commenting.
 * Flashback -
 * Stotle is teaching a young Mihli on the temple grounds, he remarks that the Northern Black Tortoise Style is very different from most styles in that it promotes disabling the oppoment rather than killing them, he tells Mihli that life should be valued, no matter who.
 * Maetel sees the two of them watching the morning training and approaches them, Flores is with her. Maetel tells Mihli that she has assigned Flores to assist her with all her needs. This surprises Flores, who comments that a female should be doing this kind of job. Maetel tells him that he needs to stop with his sexist thinking. Esmira sarcastically remarks that Flores should be honored to be promoted to the rank of house servant from Knight Captain, how it is such a big step up for him. Flores gives her an annoyed look, Mihli gives him a soft look and he tells Maetel that he accepts the honor.
 * Maetel gestures for Flores to leave the three of them, while leaving he passes by Tinte who tells him she is surprised he didn't put up more of a fuss. He tells her that when Mihli looks at him, he felt compelled to accept it, he doesn't know why though. Tinte gives him a confused look as he walks away, she looks over at Mihli, who glances at her.
 * Flashback -
 * Mihli knocks down a Turtle Clan member, Stotle congratulates her and tells her that she is now a Disciple 2nd Rank, in the C Class.
 * A messenger comes and whispers something into Stotle's ear, Mihli only overhears the word ECHO, but before she can hear more, inside her mind she hears a faint whisper.
 * Maetel tells Mihli that she'll be blunt, she wants to hear what happened on Shambhala, Slan hears Maetel's words and stops the training.
 * Flashback -
 * Stotle is speaking with the Turtle Clan elders, he is angry that ECHO demands all young girls in Shambhala be turned in to them or the sky island will be glassed.
 * The other elders think it's a bluff as they can't possibly do such a thing without protest from the nobles and with the current ongoing war they will need the tax money.
 * Stotle disagrees with them and tells them about the unfortunate fate that befell the Bear and Bird Clans.
 * The elders talk amongst themselves, a messenger enters and tells them that ECHO soldiers have already landed and are abducting the girls. Everyone is surprised.
 * The clan members are all in assembly, Stotle tells them all that the council has decided to fight against ECHO, which surprises the members and they talk amongst themselves, skeptical. Stotle makes a speech to them about how everyone has a right to choose how they live their lives, that just because ECHO has power does not mean that they are just. A young member yells out asking what of Maetel Lilty, the newly crowned ruler. Stotle says that she may not know of the situation, but if they are successful, the news will be sure to reach her ears, this motivates the younger members and they cheer. The dark whispers within Mihli's mind begin to increase, she is not sure how to make of the situation and Stotle notices the uneasiness in her eyes.
 * The sky darkens and the ECHO dropships can be seen throughout the sky, everywhere within the city fighting can be heard. Stotle is escorting Mihli to a shelter, but the two are stopped by eight ECHO soldiers. Stotle pushes Mihli into the an underground bunker hatch and stays to fight the soldiers.
 * Maetel nods in understanding and says that she did not hear of the events until the sky island was glassed, it saddens her that the Turtle Clan was wiped out by such an event. Slan remarks how Mihli survived because she was in that bunker, but asks what happened between that time and the few days that it took for her White Pegasus Knights to reach them. Mihli tells her that she cannot remember and the darkness within her heart seems to smile.
 * Flashback -
 * Mihli crawls back out of the bunker in time to see Stotle get shot, he begs the soldiers to spare Mihli. One of them picks up her up and says that they'll spare her, right after a bit of fun. Stotle yells at them, but they kick him down. Mihli calls out to him, while struggling to get out of the soldier's grip. The other soldiers begin to crowd around her saying she is a look alike to the beautiful new queen, one of them remarks what it would feel like for a commoner and the queen to elope, the others joke about him being able to experience that today.
 * Stotle gets up and the soldiers are surprised to see him still moving, he tells them that such filthy thoughts toward the queen would condemn them to death, the soldiers joke at him saying that no one will hear of it after Stotle and Mihli's "accidental" deaths. Stotle continues telling them that to make such remarks about his daughter are inexcusable, he rushes in and manages to break one of the soldier's arms before being pinned down, Mihli calls out to her father and tells the soldiers to stop, tears dripping down her face, Stotle smiles at her before being shot in the head.
 * Mihli's eyes continue to tear while losing all emotion, the darkness in her heart begins to dim her vision, her body becomes lifeless, and the voice in her head begins to speak,
 * Mihli's eyes continue to tear while losing all emotion, the darkness in her heart begins to dim her vision, her body becomes lifeless, and the voice in her head begins to speak,

~

 * Mihli wakes up calling Stotle's name. She quickly realizes that he is gone forever and cries. Vince passes by the room and upon noticing the sound of crying, he enters. Seeing a young maiden crying, he asks her what's wrong. She tells him that today is the worst day in her life. Vince puts his hand on her shoulder and tries to cheer her up. "If today is the worst day of your life then tomorrow will be better, right?" (It can later be said that it was this moment that Mihli Lilty would forever remember as the happiest moment of her life.)