The endless emptiness. A space where a voice has no sound. A hand feels no touch. No breaths to be taken. A hunger that can't be satiated... A man resting his forehead of his kneecaps, sitting on a non-existant floor. With a face full of apathy, he waits. His eyes wander in the distance, never perceiving anything other than his own skin and the limitless space around. All alone in solitude. In a void. And yet he still hears the voices of people he knew were gone. His own mouth could not utter a sound, yet the voices haunting him could never stop. But from where? There was nobody there. Not a body, not a soul. He begged them to stop. He yelled out to drown their echoes in his own, but to no use. Not a single sounds left his body, not in countless years. And the voices around him never stopped. Never let go. "Murderer", "Monster", "Submit"... "Surrender". Each word carrying a different kind of guilt. Each time he heard one he could feel a needle pierce his heart. But there was no one there. Was it all in his head? He looks around again. The endless abyss. And.. A crimson light ?? He gets up facing the shining light. The only change in eons. The light becomes brighter and brighter. A blinding power he has not seem or felt in so long. And within the light he sees the silhouette of a hand. Was he free? Was he going home? He reached into the light trying to touch the being on the other side. He called out to it, but the only response he heard was - "Prepare". The silhouette became larger, more frightening and with the first step back the man took, the hand launched itself towards his face trying to grab him only for him to... Wake up.

  Frankfurt, Germany

  6:35am

  Nicola sat up in his bed. Another nightmare. The same one that has been haunting him for years. He looked at his phone and saw it was still early in the morning but he knew he wouldn't fall asleep again. He got up and put on some clothes. He was forced to wake up early, so he decided he might as well make the most of it. After a very quick shower and a hot cup of tea he sat down and decided to make a plan where to go today. Those artifacts weren't going to find themselves.

  The Mayan German weather brought cool evenings and pleasantly warm days. For the most part. The motel Nicola stayed at was on the outskirts of the city. A small secluded building on a street corner, in not so good neighborhood. The parked cars outside were a bit rusty or damaged, the smell of cigarettes and garbage filled the air. Nicola wondered why he picked the worst spot possible to rent a room, but he was about to move to a hotel downtown so he didn't pay much attention to it. Still he made sure to keep his dagger close. He had already called two of the few numbers provided by Amri a bit over a week ago, but none of the things he was offered caught his eye. Still 2 left in Frankfurt to the check out and then he was going to be on his way to find that last guy who promised something interesting. After deciding on the route for today and seeing he still has 2 hours of free time he decided to do some work. He made sure his curtains were closed, moved so he could be sitting facing the door and dialed a number on his phone and put an earpiece.

  "Good morning, Nicky. I hope you are enjoying your German vacation."

  The artificial voice sounded soft, but still pretty flat and emotionless. The voice was that of a long gone professor, mixed with Nicola's grandfather's. The only close relative he had an audio of.

  "Good morning to you too, machine. Can't really call it a vacation, considering my nightmares keep coming back. And considering I may or may not have picked a pretty bad spot to stay at for the night."

  "Sounds exhausting. But at least you are going to an upscale hotel this evening. Anyway, what can I help you with today?"

  "I came across some funds I'd like to utilize. I need you to access my bank account and distribute the money between fundraisers 3 through 16."

  After being left the sole survivor of the Cooper family, Nicola inherited all the fortune held by his family tree, which amounted to a lot more than he could ever spent, and the money just kept coming. At a certain point he decided it's best to give it away to those less fortunate and maybe try to help those who have been wronged by the system or the Black Hoods. He was a firm believer that while one man could not end the battles of the entire world alone, he could at least help other people fight their own smaller ones. Over the years he has been spending a lot on helping those in dire need of financial aid for life saving surgeries and even more for Intel on gangs or criminal enterprises. It helped that sometimes his and the Black Hoods' interests align, like against those Los Angeles gangs.

  "Consider it done. While you were sleeping I hand picked some news from around the world I think you'd find interesting. You can find the link to them in your email." the robotic voice responded.

  "Thank you very much. I'll go check them out."

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  The news mostly consisted of updates on certain politics and important meetings. Pretty boring stuff. But some of those were investigations he took a lot of interest in. After all an informed man was a powerful man. After reading all the news prepared, he checked of everything was in order with the funds and after confirming it was he decided to it was time to out. He put on a pair of jeans, a black hoodie, with a t shirt underneath. He tucked a knife in his pants, put on his backpack and went out of the room. Upon leaving the smell of filth and cigarettes hit him like a truck. It was unbearable and he was glad to leave this motel. He called a guy to pick his belonging from the room and take them to the hotel.

  The first stop on his journey was a beer brewery a few minutes drive away from the city. One of his contacts was a manager in that same building. The brewery was relatively small, but it made for its size with its quality. These guys took pride in their product and made sure it was on of the very best in the region. Hence why they paid more than their competitors and managed to scout some good personnel. After he arrived there he went inside and asked to speak to the manager, claiming he was there for a job interview. The security guard walked him in and showed him around briefly, talking about the company and giving him some pointers for his interview. In less than 2 minutes they arrived in front of the office and Nicola thanked the guard for his time and for the tips. After the guard left he knocked on the door and after hearing a response went in.

  "Guten tag, mister Cooper"

  Nicola smiled and decided to practice his German.

  "Good day to you too, mister Verner. Thank you for making time for me so quickly. I really appreciate it."

  "Don't you worry. Now, let's get to the point. What did Walter tell you about what I'm offering here?"

  "Absolutely nothing. I was just handed a piece of paper with contacts and I was told you might have something of interest."

  "I see." replied Verner with a slight annoyance in his voice. "Well I came across a very special shield recently. A Black Hood style shield from the 15th century. Worn by a general into battle. It even has the general's family insignia."

  Verner let his guest think about the relic for a bit. He was sure it was pretty expensive and would have a lot of value to someone from the founding families. After a few seconds, with a grin from ear to ear, he sais in a cocky voice:

  " So I'd say 50 thousand is a fair price for it. Should I have it sent to an address or would you like to take it now?"

  "Who said anything about buying?"

  "Oh come on son. It's a relic from centuries ago. People pile up for a deal like this."

  "Other people maybe. I don't see the value in an ordinary shield." Nicola was staring into his contact's eyes with a poker face that could rival even the ones of pros.

  "It's not an ordinary shield. But then again I don't expect a child like you to understand the significance of such a relic!" Verner was irritated. For the first time in his career had someone belittled anything he sold.

  "Why would I want the rusty shield of some unknown general, whose bloodline is long gone and forgotten? A deck of cards I stumbled upon a few weeks ago is tens of times more valuable than this chunk of metal. Besides I don't like to do business with people who don't respect the opinion of their buyers and try to force an exchange. "

  Nicola got up from his seat and headed towards the exit. He kept walking, ignoring the shouts of the man behind him. He hated having his time wasted and usually terminated a transaction on the spot if he knew it was not worth it or if the other person crossed a line. He walked out of the brewery and got in his car. A deep sigh followed by a quick check of the paper with the contact info. 3 out of 5 of the sellers were a total bust and a waste of time. He even decided to skip the other guy in Frankfurt, it's not like they were expecting him. But he was curious about the last person. What was so important that gave the seller such confidence?

  Nicola took out his phone and dialed the last number. The other side picked after the second ring.

  "Mister Cooper."

  The voice was that of a woman. Probably late 40s. He was a bit surprised. It wasn't often anyone recognized him just by his phone number. Especially since he changed it every few months.

  "How did you know it was me?"

  "You are the only one we gave this number to. How are you enjoying Frankfurt?"

  So somebody IS watching him.

  "It's a pretty city. I was told you have something I would "love". It's a strong word for a simple trade."

  "Mister Cooper, I assure you this is anything but a "simple" trade. Does the name Ognyan Cooper mean anything to you?"

  Nicola's heart skipped a beat. How did they know about his father, who has been dead for almost 24 years? Now these people had his undifided attention. He took a few seconds to recover from the shock of hearing his dad's name and calmly replied:

  " He is my father. What is it of his you have?"

  "His sword. A variation of a katana with the incrustated letter O. C. on the bottom, in case you were wondering."

  His sword. Even though Nicola doesn't remember his parents well he knew they used to be high ranked Black Hoods and as such were issued a weapon with their initials. And a katana was his dad's weapon of choice. Could it be possible they had the real thing? So many questions passed through his mind.

  "That is interesting. But I'll still have to see it for myself before saying anything."

  "But of course. You are welcome to come meet with us and see it for yourself. In your hotel room you will find an invitation to a private party in the Hohenzollern castle in 2 days. We will be waiting for you there. And please wear something nice, mister Cooper. In the meantime, please enjoy Frankfurt. " the old woman said with a low tone.

  " I'll see you in 2 days then."

  But before he could say anything else the woman hung up. He had so many questions and so many things to think about. But for now he had 2 days to enjoy Frankfurt and his new hotel room. Downtown was beautiful, with its long streets and tasteful buildings. Maybe the beauty of the city would help him think. He started his car and drove off.