PoA M4, Prologue -- Welcome to Voluntas

        Farhad walked down the gangplank along with several other Aetherians as they entered the city of Voluntas from the several boats that traveled up the mighty river which snaked through the western side of the city. The hills of the massive city were covered with Voluntas-styled housing, which consisted of a mix of dwellings ranging from small, middle-class houses to the massive, majestic villas of the richer, more privileged class. A few temples could also be spotted from where Farhad and the others stood -- some were small and barely noticeable while others stood out boldly amongst the mass of architecture. The sun had also began to rise, shining its light upon the city among the hills. It was a rather breathtaking sight, but unbeknownst to the Aetherian party, this lovely jewel of the Voluntan kingdom also hid a dark, rather barbaric interior which they would soon experience firsthand.

        The water-type walked with the other Pokemon of his nation and entered the city. It must have been market day for the Voluntans because everywhere Farhad looked there was a stall and a vendor selling his or her wares. He saw clothes of different shades of colors which looked as if they were made of the finest fabrics, fresh produce, and one particular stall which sold some rather tasty-looking Aspear Souffles which caught the sailor's attention. His mouth suddenly became a bit more moist than usual once the aroma of the freshly baked desserts reached his nose and he slowly ventured from the group and towards the stall. A few other Voluntans stood near the vendor and admired his wares, conversing with each other in friendly tones and smiling. One of them -- a Flareon -- placed some money on the table and the Ledian gave him one of the souffles. Just as the Flareon left the stall, Farhad approached the Bug-type and gave him a friendly smile.

        "Hello, sir," he spoke. "Those souffles of yours look and smell very delicious. How much are they? I'd love to..."

        He trailed off once he noticed the rather icy glares he was getting from not only the Pokemon standing around the stall, but also from the Ledian manning the stall. All of a sudden, he felt a bit uneasy being around these market-goers. One of them even turned and walked off, holding her head high in the air. Farhad only looked and raised an eyebrow at the Pokemon before returning his gaze to the Ledian.

        "Anyways, sir, may I buy one of those--"

        "They need to cool down before I can sell them, outsider," the Bug-type spoke in a darkened tone.

        Farhad pointed over to the Flareon who was pretty far from the stall now. "But didn't that guy just--"

        "I said they need to cool first," snapped the vendor. "Now get lost before I call the guards over here! Move along! Shoo! Shoo!"

        The Floatzel's face twisted in confusion and a bit of anger at the Ledian for shooing him away as if he was some sort of homeless peasant, and was about to object, but he knew that simply leaving the uppity bunch empty-handed would be a better outcome than having to deal with the Voluntan guardsmen, so with a frustrated sigh Farhad left the stall and returned to the group of Aetherians who were making their way through the city. He looked around as they continued to walk and only then did he noticed the glares from other Voluntan market-goers as they walked by. They all eyed these outsiders with absolute contempt, some of their faces even contorting into disgusted expressions as if they were thinking "How dare these...these...filthy outsiders tarnish our city with their presence!" It all made Farhad even more tense as his paw strayed closer and closer to the handle of his cutlass, just in case one of these sets of evil eyes decided to try something out of line.

        "Not a very welcoming bunch, eh," he heard one of King Alaric's bodyguards whisper to someone.

        "Oh, aye, my friend," someone whispered back. "They're lookin' at us as if we were a roamin' band of walkin' corpses. Heh, lookit that one over there. Yeah that lard-ass Luxio standin' in the doorway. Huh, it's a mystery how he ain't stuck in that doorway."

        "Hah, you're right, comrade...woah there. Stand fast. Here's our welcoming party, methinks."

        The group came to a sudden halt an Farhad accidentally bumped into a Pokemon in front of him. Apologizing, he looked around and noticed that they had walked into a rather large town square with more stalls, more merchandise, more Pokemon, and even more evil glares, but what really caught the Floatzel's attention was the alarming number of armed Pokemon standing around them, their armor glistening in the rising sun's radiance like stars, and the red crests on their helmets stood out like the blood red plumage of a Talonflame. Their massive red and yellow shields had the crest of the Caesar in the center, and were polished just as much as their armor was. They all had their swords drawn and they stood in an aggressive stance, as if they were waiting for the order to slaughter the Aetherians on the spot.

        "Circumdate," the commanding solder shouted, and almost instantly, the Centurions had surrounded the party. All of the Aetherians -- especially Alaric's bodyguards -- were on edge with weapons drawn, glaring at the outnumbering soldiers that surrounded them. Farhad's paw gripped the cutlass tightly, ready to draw it at a moment's notice should things go south.

        "Some way to welcome your guests," he muttered as he looked over the surrounding Centurions, looking for a weak point in their formation, but found none. "Man, these guys know their stuff..."

        The formation parted in the front where King Alaric stood, and a Centurion with golden armor swaggered through the opening, flanked on his left and right by two normal Centurions.

        "The Caesar has been expecting your audience, Serpent King," spat the golden-armored soldier. The Serperior he was addressing did not even cringe at the insulting name, but continued to stare the officer down.

        "Very well," he spoke. "I'm guessing that you all will escort us to him?"

        "Huh." The Centurion spat at the ground in front of the King. "Yeah, we've been given the displeasure of escorting you to Caesar Aetius. Just you, of course. Your subjects, however, get escorted to the Circus stables."

        "Stables?"

        "The Caesar will explain everything to you, Serpent King. Now come. I've wasted enough time waiting for you to show up." The officer looked at the bodyguards. "Only two of them may come. Don't worry. I won't try anything funny. Besides, we don't need any outsider blood contaminating the streets of our glorious city."

        With that, King Alaric nodded to two of his bodyguards and they walked with the officer to go and see the Caesar. Right at that moment, another Centurion (of high ranking, obviously) walked forward and spoke.

        "The rest of you...outsiders...will be under close escort as long as you remain within Voluntas. So follow our orders and there won't be any...altercations. Understood? Good, now come. To the Circus with you lot!"