Worries & Solutions

Eidan lay down on his bed exhausted from both travel and arguments. His mind was full of tiring thoughts. Covering his eyes with his arm he slowly drifted off to sleep.

In his dream, he was encircled by a ring of black misty wisps. They leisurely danced around him whispering some incoherent words.

His own voice sounded afar from his ears, muffled, dimmed, and undecipherable. From the woeful dark fog, a hand reached out in front of him. Eidan wanted to grab it but was hesitant to do so. The hand waited patiently, to be held, to be noticed, to be given a slight touch.

But as soon as he tried to reach out the atmosphere stirred in great motion. It grew colder, and he uttered nothing but icy cold breaths. His throat hurt from the dryness of the air and trembled slightly.

With a shudder the prince woke up in his bed, gasping as his body searched for warmth. The tips of his fingers that almost touched the hand were frostbitten.

Channeling his inner mana he circulated heat towards his hands and fingers, "This certainly isn't a dream." He whispered to himself. He could no longer fall asleep so he decided to take a walk outside.

It was midnight and the moon shone brightly behind the mountains. He gazed at the starry night accompanied by clouds of different shapes and sizes he felt strange.

Could this be called peace? A world on the verge of a century's worth of war? What was he to do to stop this, was he even meant to be the center of all this commotion?

"Thinking about it isn't going to help, your highness." A calm voice called out to prince Eidan.

"Rupias…you're awake?" he glanced back at the man standing gracefully behind him, an unknown glint in his eyes surfaced as he approached the prince.

Sometimes even the prince cannot tell what the prime mage is thinking. How does the Prime Mage make decisions that big and how does he feel about his fate?

"You can tell what I'm thinking?"

Rupias gave a soft chuckle and replied in a hum, "Not exactly the thoughts of your highness but the aura that you emit, it's stirred up by the recent incident isn't it?"

It was probably both the heated argument with the Emperor and the nightmare that he had, but he didn't want to talk about either of those.

Prince Eidan turned his face back towards the endless sky and sighed, "Rupias, how did you do it?" his hair lightly moving by the breeze.

"Did what, your highness?" Rupias knew what the prince was asking but he deliberately provoked him to express his feelings out in open.

"All those years ago, when it was time to make a decision for this huge world, how were you able to seal it with such bravery?" The prince, who seemed to be down in spirits, asked the mage with a beautifully low voice.

That made the prime mage think for a few moments, as silence surrounded them so did serenity when Rupias opened his mouth, "For starters, I was born from the chaos that held every living being a prisoner on this earth, as well as the hope of peace that was buried deep within the hearts. I was born from the minds of every living creature that had a vision of a world in which they could live without fear and oppression. I was born from the blood that spilled on battlefields all over this realm when those who lived by the sword tried to force others into submission with their own two hands."

Prince Eidan was surprised by the Prime Mage's words but listened attentively.

"I always knew that the world was big, and sometimes it scared me. What if the evil doesn't accept this pact, what if the people never find it acceptable? What if they wanted complete victory instead? But I wasn't alone in my fear, so I did what I had to do. No…I did what I was supposed to do."

"Then why did they accept your offer of peace?"

"The answer is simple: they were tired of war. Those who had been fighting for years were tired of it all. They saw no end in sight, and they didn't want to keep going like this forever. Humans could no longer witness their extinction. In the end, they pushed their resolves and decisions to someone who was completely neutral."

Prince Eidan was surprised to hear that even the prime mage could experience such complex emotions.

He looked down and lost in thoughts when Rupias sat beside him and asked, "Do you feel guilty your highness?"

Prince Eidan knew perfectly well about what the prime mage was referring to however, he responded firmly, "I won't ask forgiveness for what I had done, nor for what I said to His Majesty."

Seeing the prince making such a serious expression Rupias couldn't help but let out a chuckle, "Goodness me, look at how the young prince has grown up, so adorable." He ruffled the prince's hair.

"Rupias!" Prince Eidan startled by sudden childish treatment held back his flustered voice.

"I'm not telling his highness to ask for forgiveness, neither I'm telling you to completely erase or deny the presence of those feelings, after-all they are genuine," Rupias held his staff and pointed at the sky, Prince Eidan's gaze following his staff, "I do not wish for his highness to be devoid of emotions, just that I worry you might experience a sense of guilt after your actions hold the reigns of your emotions." Rupias looked at the child in front of him and smiled, "Never let anyone take charge of your emotions, not even your anger."

Prince Eidan although embarrassed, nodded at the mage's affection.

"After all, his highness is the cutest child of this Empire!" Rupias boasted about his highness' looks as if prince Eidan is his own child.

"That's enough Rupias, you're worse than my mother." Eidan stood up and dusted his clothes, while still feeling a bit shy he felt at ease.

But that feeling was shortened as Rupias' melancholic voice reached out to him once again, "Your highness, do you want to save your people?"

That made Eidan turn his face towards Rupias and he said furrowing his eyebrows, "Of course I do! Isn't that what I am supposed to be doing? I want to save my people, but... I don't know how." These helpless words made Eidan feel pathetic. He hated that he was powerless to save his people from the attacks of evil. The people who lost their lives while waiting for the sole crown prince of this empire and the people who he doesn't even know are dying on his lands.

"I…want to be stronger." He spoke softly.

Seeing the boy struggle at such a young age, Rupias felt a sense of compassion and empathy for him. Just like Rupias was when he first started to learn about the world. Rupias could remember how difficult it was to understand everything that was going on around him, but as time went by, things got easier and easier.

"Strength... doesn't always mean you have to be ruthless and have everyone be at your mercy, Strength isn't always about being right or having the last word; sometimes strength means knowing when to let go and move on."

"Strength doesn't bother with things like size or age. It doesn't care if you're a man or a woman. It doesn't care if you're rich or poor, young or old. Strength doesn't allow fear to stop; strength is simply the ability to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. Diminishing 'What ifs' and 'Why nots.' It moves forward, it takes action."

The prince calmly listened till Rupias finished and then asked gently, "I understand that, what do I lack, Rupias?"

"Companions."

"Pardon?"

"What your highness needs as strength, are companions who are willing to protect and fight alongside you, the ones who will not wither their loyalty at any point and not turn their backs on a battlefield."

The prince never thought of such things as companions, from his childhood everyone was afraid of approaching prince Eidan as he held power that no one could compare, an upbringing where he received special care and treatment, he has never known what it was like to have someone beside you as a friend or a sibling. Although he received motherly love and fatherly attention, but he never understood a person around his age.

"Your highness, get ready for a quest." Rupias smiled brightly, as he swung his staff, the jingle of the ceramic feathers melodiously spreading in the air.

Prince Eidan's eyes widened with excitement, as he heard those words, "So…did my father give me permission to leave?" his heart was beating so fast and his hair shimmered softly.

Rupias nodded and cheered for prince Eidan, "Your highness is to leave for his first destination."

'The demonic realm.'