"Ffamran, please don't look at me like that" the girl says. The look on Ffamran's face only intensifies. He is a boy in his late teens with dusty blonde hair that is cut short to keep it out of his eyes. He has on a simple white button up shirt and black pants. Both are made of fine quality, but he looks uncomfortable as if they made him itch. His face is classically handsome and looks aristocratic. But it is obvious that the boy is terrified. It is not written on his face, only in his eyes. And perhaps if the girl had not known him better, she would not have noticed. But she did know him very well, too well maybe. The boy's eyes shift down, studying the stone road beneath his feet.

The two are standing outside of a large building. The sign on the door says Draklor Laboratories. The building goes up for many stories and is made of a reddish brown brick. The top so high that she can only barely see the top. She looks up now, any view better than the one before her. It is an elaborate building with many decks and buttresses. The girl's eyes look up at the building, searching the many windows for an answer. It has been her second home for so many years. She remembers back to the adventures she had there with him. Being chased by the guards, finding the many secrets that it has to offer. God she was so young then, though she didn't feel that way at the time. Both of them were so ready to grow up, but now she would give anything to go back. She does not want to go. But no, she has to leave. They have disappeared and she has to find them.

A more resolute look appears on her face. Her green eyes flash with determination. Her dark brown hair that cascades down to the middle of her back is sitting still because there is no wind around them. It seems as if the whole city is holding its breath, waiting to see what will become of the young pair.

Ffamran's eyes leave the ground and hold her gaze once again. "Fara, I can't be here all alone" He says. It tears her up to see him like this. His usual smirk is missing from his face and is replaced with nothing, nothing at all. His face is so blank, but still his eyes betray his feelings. "You won't be here alone." Fara says. Trying to smile, but failing miserably. "You have your father and your brothers. I have to go find my parents. People do not just disappear without a reason. And if it was me who had disappeared they would not give up until they had found me." They both had felt trapped here. That is why they got along in the first place. Even as small children they grated against the rules their society had placed upon them. Even when it felt like they were stuck in amber, on display, at least they were stuck together. But still she was leaving him. What kind of friend was she? But she had no choice, like a moth to the light she must find what she could to learn their fate.

Her parents were gone and she thinks that it might be the empire. Her parents have always been very vocal about their dislike of the empire. They were trying to return it to a republic like it was before House Solidor took the reigns of power centuries ago. She sincerely hopes it is not the empire, because if it is, then there will be little hope to return them to safety.

"Can you not just look for them here?" Ffamran's voice jolts her out of her musings. "You know that I cannot" she replies "I've tried and no one will give me any answers here. It's like they are all pretending that my parents never existed. I have to find them Ffamran." It had been a little more then a month since her parents had gone. She had woken up one morning, just like any other, but her parents were no where to be found. She searched frantically through the house and then through the area surrounding it. They wouldn't leave her, not without a word. And within a few hours she was certain that something awful had befallen them. They wouldn't be the first. Though she was young she had heard whispers of such things. Disappearances and strange deaths. But she had to believe that they were still okay, she was just a child. She had talked to countless guards and even a few judges, but no one seemed to know anything, or at least they pretended to not.

Her fathers name is Bertram Powers. He was a well built man in his prime, but he has aged. His hair is salt and pepper gray. His eyes are green, not bright, but a dark grey green. Like the sky above the ocean in the middle of a storm. Fara had gotten her fathers eyes. He was stern, but kind. Honestly he might have spoiled her at times. Allowing her adventures to go unchecked. Her mothers name is Drina; it was Drina Rioan before she was married. It was from her mother that Fara got her hair. It was such a dark brown, that it almost looked black. But if the sun shined on it, her hair would look auburn. Ffamran had noticed long ago that if she stood with the sun behind her head, it seemed as though she had a fiery halo surrounding her head. Her mother was a soft spoken women in public. It had taken her many years to understand her public and private persona. That was before she had understood the pressures put on archadian noble ladies. In the secrecy of her own home, her mother was a radical. So intelligent and so passionate with the way she spoke of the way the world could be even thinking of it could still make Fara's heart ache.

Fara had always been proud of her parents and the fact that they spoke their mind. She was the same way really, a strong sense of what she thought was right. Her family was rather wealthy; they were descended from a powerful political family. The Powers had always been known to be a proud group (sometimes too proud) and they always strove for justice above all else. Perhaps that was why their dislike for Archadia grew as the empire continued to become more and more ruthless, the emperor's power more and more absolute. They hated the judges the most, because they pretended that they strove for justice, when really they were just the emperor's lap dogs.

Her hand went to the pendant around her neck, as it always did when she thought about her parents. It was given to her by her mother on her thirteenth birthday. "Because it reminds me of your eyes" her mother had said. It had a long antique gold chain. At the bottom were three stones hanging off of the chain. The stones were on little gold strings that varied in length and dangled from the chain. One stone was grey, but one could see through it. The other was dark shiny stone and the final one was forest green. All of them were about the size of a pearl, and were roughly cut, as if someone had just plucked them off of the ground.

She only had two valuable possessions on her. She wanted it to be easy for her to get around, so she did not want to carry around much. The one was her necklace, and the other was a pair of swords. They had been her fathers, but she was taking them with her. He won't mind, she thought bitterly. They were not very large, perfect for her size. The blades were black and the hilt was also black, but it was very ornate. At the base of the blade small lines of black metal curved around each other and connecting to the end of the hilt. It almost looked delicate, but Fara knew it was not. It had been passed down in her family for generations and there was not a chip on it. She had the two swords sheathed on her back. She didn't even know why she kept them, she had never had a talent for blades, but she took them anyway. Maybe just the fact that she had them could fend off some would be attackers who were looking for an easy fight.

Ffamran noticed Fara's hand on her necklace. He knew that she was thinking about her parents and a defeated look came over his face. "You will not change your mind" he said softly. It was a statement not a question, but she still shook her head softly and some of her hair fell into her face.

They stood there for a few minutes, just looking at each other, Fara trying her best not to think about the friend she had to leave behind. They had been best friends for as long as either could remember, even though Ffamran was a few years older then Fara was. He had always been like a big brother to her. They would entertain each other at the boring dinners and dances that their respective families would drag them to. She had never imagined a time without him. Fara thought about how childish she had been before, thinking her life would always be the same. She thought she would always have her family and her friends. How naïve, to assume there would never be tragedy. Little did she know that tragedy would be one of the few constants in her life.

"Goodbye" she said. Then she turned and walked off to find an airship. She only looked back once, but wished she had not. The look on his face broke her heart. What a selfish friend she could be.