Chapter 3: A Haunting Past

After the previous king died my older brother took over and I was trained in the art of murder, so anyone who disobeys him must answer to me. There is a growing threat in our universe, with his power constantly growing I must be the one to kill him before his power becomes too great to stop. With the power imbued within me, I shall dispose of him quickly.

A pathetic, worthless, problem child. Those are the only words I could use to describe myself. Unlike anyone else, I was a different type of abnormal. When you heard the word abnormal everyone thinks about somebody with incredible talent and abilities. My abnormality is nothing. I have no power, ever since I was born I have been cursed with this, I can’t hover and I can’t control flames like any other person. The royal family took me in and cared for me. They didn’t care that I was like this, they protected me and loved me. Because of my status they became overprotective of me, they hardly ever let me leave the house and I was always followed by a guard whenever I did. There was only ever one time during the day where I was free, during that time I chose to go outside and sit at my favorite spot, it was a small hill with a great view of the ocean. My family had a huge mansion in the northwest corner of Xaar, the royal continent. I hated the way I was, every day I took lessons to become stronger, however, the guards always went easy on me with fear that I might get hurt. I could never reach greater heights, my power seemed limited and frail, everyone reassured me that I would become stronger, but I knew that they were only saying those things to make me feel better. One day King Zant asked to see my parents, every time this event occurs they leave me at home with several high ranking guards to keep a watch over me at all times. This time, however, they asked me if I wanted to come along with them, without hesitation, I agreed and began to pack my stuff. I have never been to Torn but I have heard many great things about it. King Zant is the most powerful Neptarian alive, I wondered if he would let me join the royal academy. I strove to become stronger and I finally had the opportunity to. Once preparations were set, we were greeted by the royal chariot. We stepped inside and watched it take off, the royal chariot is a name that King Zant gave to his airship. The airship was ironically named ‘chariot’ King Zant’s naming choices weren’t good, but for him to be the ruler and leader of our race I don’t think that matters. For a few minutes, I sat around wondering what Torn was like, once we arrived it was breathtaking. It was better than I could’ve ever imagined.

Torn was a beautiful city, it was located right in the center of Xaar, it had many buildings ranging from houses to shops. Located up north was the royal palace, home to King Zant. Once we arrived at the palace, I saw many powerful guards. They allowed us to enter once my parents showed them the invitation. Once inside we were greeted by the royal servants, we were offered various snacks. You could see many portraits and statues on the walls. There was a huge staircase, and at the end of it all I there was the throne, but more importantly, King Zant was there, waiting patiently for us to arrive. Once my parents and the king were getting ready to begin talking, the king spoke to me

“Oh, Hope is it? If you would like you may go to the yard out back with my grandson,” he was a nice man. He spoke to me with a smile on his face, I decided to take his offer and go to the yard. I walked past many guards all of them seemed powerful however, there was one in particular which stood out to me. He was a bulky man holding what seemed to be a huge sword which seemed impractical for combat, as he turned to look at me he smiled, but I looked away and continued to walk before he could say anything to me so as to avoid any trouble. Just his mere presence gave off many signs of caution, I could tell he wasn’t a bad man but I couldn’t help but to be cautious around him, his body seemed to emit a frightening power which warded off anyone who came close to him. Once I exited the castle I saw a huge open field and off to the side was a boy around the same age that I was at the time, he was performing various exercises. I hid and admired the boy from afar and paid close attention to what he did. I was intrigued by this boy. He had so much power for his age, different from me in every way imaginable. When I tried to get a closer look, I accidentally made a rustling sound on one of the bushes I was hiding behind which alerted him. After hearing the sound the boy approached the bush, he placed his hand out and before I could even react he had burnt down the bush I was hiding behind. I fell to the ground and became frightened

“Oh, I’m sorry about that. My grandfather always pulls stunts like this especially when I am trying to train” he said to me in a kind-hearted voice

“It’s fine, I’m sorry to have troubled you. I’ll just be on my way” I said to him

“You’re leaving so soon? That’s a shame I was hoping you would stay a bit longer. I never get to meet anyone my age around here.” he said to me while placing his hand out to help me up.

“My name is Mistery, what’s your name” he had asked me

“My name is, Hope,” I said to him, taking hold of his hand. He lifted me off of the ground and smiled at me.

“So, what brings you here?” he had asked me

“My parents are here because of a request by King Zant” I responded

“Seems typical, my grandfather always has people over so I’m used to it by now,” he said to me After that, he told me that he had to continue his daily routine so throughout the whole day after that encounter he showed me various exercises and he even gave me one of his many collections of combat manuals. Mistery told me that he tried to join the academy here in Torn but he only managed to get into the lowest rank. He was upset because of that and so he chose to train daily until he became stronger. He told me that all he ever wanted to do in life was to become a Royal Knight, the highest class of warrior one can attain. I joined him in performing exercises. It was mostly endurance training. During one of his exercises, he attempted to increase the length of time he could use his fire power.

“Alright, get ready. I’m counting on you to time me okay,” he told me. He then let out a huge wave of fire, not long after that he collapsed and I ran up to him worried. I tapped his shoulder and he looked back at me with a smile

“So how long was that?” he asked

“Ten seconds,” I told him. Mistery was happy and said to me

“That’s a new record”

“Alright, it’s your turn,” he said to me. I looked at him and began to cry,

“I-I can’t”

“Don’t cry’ he told me

“Why can’t you do it?”

“I’m an abnormal, I don’t have any abilities. I can’t use fire, and I can’t hover” I told him crying over his shoulder.

“It’s okay. You don’t need to have these abilities to get stronger. Strength is what you make of it, not just fighting.” he told me.

“My grandfather always tells me that to become strong, you must believe you are strong and never give in to what you can’t accomplish.” He was strong, once again he helped me up and comforted me

“If you can’t use flames, then all you have to do is find another way to fight. Your own way” he told me. He then began to show me various other ways to fight, he told me that because we aren’t as big as other people we must be very mobile. I began to learn how to close in on an opponent and how to quickly back away from one.

“Geez. Your very agile aren’t you?” he told me. I hadn’t realized before, because of my small stature I can move much more freely than other people, I could perform various flips and high jumps. Mistery became amazed at what I could do, within the first day we became best friends.

After the long training session, my parents called me back. We were told we could stay at an inn within the town. The inn was huge and it housed many people. I was escorted by one of the castle guards around the town. To my surprise, I ran into Mistery.

“Hope. I was looking for you” he told me

“For what reason”

“I wanted to give you this. I bought it and thought it would look good on you, so here,” he handed me a scarf, it was black.

“Thank you, but why buy this for me?”

“Because we’re friends now, I just wanted to give you something,” he told me with a smile on his face

“The next exam is tomorrow, I need to prepare so I would appreciate it if you could show up and cheer me on,” he told me

“Y-yes, I’ll be there,” I told him

“Well, anyways I have to get going. I’ll see you tomorrow at the exam,” he then waved goodbye before running back to the castle to prepare. After that, I put the scarf on and thought I should buy him something special to get him ready for his exam. At first, I thought that I should get him a sword until I remembered how badly he was defeated by one of the guards. Maybe I could get him another book. So I began to walk towards the library, there were many books on combat, however, I couldn’t seem to find one that he didn’t already own. There were different books on various topics including mid-air combat to flame control, there was even a list of all the known abnormalities. I left the place empty-handed continuing to wonder what to buy him. I asked the guard escorting me if he knew anything about Mistery’s interest. He told me that Mistery doesn’t really care what someone gets for him as long as it’s black. With that knowledge at hand, I began to look for anything uncomfortably black. I found many artifacts including necklaces and bracelets. I didn’t see Mistery as an admirer of jewelry though so I continued to search. For hours on end I looked for a perfect gift for Mistery, I was still lost on what I should get for him. Even the guard escorting me asked if I wanted to get home, I denied his offer and continued to search. For hours after nightfall, I went from store to store asking for any black artifacts, the only items they had were jewelry and weapons. I needed something special and worthwhile, I thought that I would have to go home without a gift for him. The last store I checked was a small pawn shop, the moment I entered I knew I would have to buy it, it was a pair of black arm bracers. I thought that because he doesn’t use any weapons he might need some protection for his arms. They were made of a light material, the blacksmith who created them claimed they would be almost indestructible. After I had paid the fee the storekeeper polished the bracers and packaged them up. I needed to get home quickly before I start to worry my parents, they tend to get worried when I am away from them for too long.