Around the table, the family gathered. The two daughters of parents who ruled a kingdom, one wearing a crooked set of glasses and her dark hair tied back in a tail, and the other with her small hood up to hide her eyes from everyone, allowing her light pink hair to cover her face and eyes as well. The parents, a king of a vast land, readying forces to defend themselves from a coming onslaught of monsters that they had once asked to be neighbors with, and the queen, a woman by the name of Lamia, who was once a lone helper of a church of the area, called Meridian. The land they inhabit, The Canopy Kingdom, was a new nation in the continent, and had rose to power quite quickly, obtaining new technologies from the other lands and many citizens in the process of its forming. Now, a once welcomed neighbor race, the Gigans, seek to oppose them, and demolish their nation in any way possible. Skirmishes in the past, as well as many vicious attacks by them had led to the Canopy Kingdom to use their technology against their once loyal and respected neighbors.
The king said Grace to the Trinity once they all gathered around the table for the potential last dinner he would have with them. The girls poked and prodded at one another across the table as the mother kept her head bowed as her husband continued the prayer. She was a minister of the church, a woman who looked after the grounds, who helped those in need, and wanted nothing more than to see the good in all people. The king had come to her one day after a service, and simply asked for her hand in marriage. She could not turn him down. He had come to services in her church for nearly a year, never missing anything she said, and always wanted to help her, to be beside her, and make her smile and laugh. She felt safe with him, she felt happy, and she knew that there was something great about this man. Their marriage took hold fast, and the Canopy Kingdom was established not long after the first child was born. She had raised her girls as best she could in the fledgling days of her being queen, but being queen comes with stipulations on the job of 'mother.' Venus, the older of the two by merely a year, had grown to the age of ten, and was quite rambunctious and outgoing, always looking into things and being somewhat destructive, while the smaller of the two, Aeon, was inquisitive as well, but rather reserved, always watching, rather than doing. The two were inseparable, and the mother looked to them with as much joy in her heart as she could muster.
"Amen," The king says as he opens his eyes to see the two girls with their head bowed and hands together.
"Amen," They all repeat, as the eyes of all but one of them open and began to serve themselves. The girls devoured the food quickly as usually, and skirted off to play to run all of their energy out. The servants of the castle rushed in to clear the table and refill any glasses as the queen and king sat in still silence, thinking to themselves what they would do without the other if this truly was their last dinner together.
"Mia, I…" The king began, but fell short as his mind faltered on his words. He looked away to the table, took a sip of wine, and then went back to the goddess of a wife before him. She was as radiant as when he met her ten years ago. Long blond hair that seemed ever so slightly wave like, and her slender body displaying gorgeous curves that signified her as a voluptuous young woman, and a mother; her skin, the color of sand with the texture of silk, and her eyes, an entrancing light red whose mere sight felt hot, entrancing, and all together loving. She is his joy, his muse, and his strength in the world.
"Mia, I cannot say the words I wish. I simply wish to tell you, repeatedly, that above all else, I love you."
The words fell well into her, and she reciprocated with a smile and a nod. "I love you to, my king. I want nothing more than the see you smile every day for as long as I live."
"You do know what tomorrow brings, do you not?" He replied, trying not to sound too harsh.
"I have prayed the day would never come, but now that I see that it has, I pray even harder that the Watcher will keep her eyes on you and protect you, and that the Destroyer looms within our soldiers to strengthen them and defeat our foes, and I ask the Mother, the Giver and Deliverer, to protect you with all the love that I give you every day." She gave her piece with the resolve she showed when they were talking of marriage so long ago. She still held her beliefs in the highest regard, and she had all the confidence in the world that the Trinity was as real as she was. Many of the others in Meridian and the Canopy Kingdom did not think too highly of the religion, but it was still worshiped by many.
The king looked to her with eyes filled with sadness, "Lamia, I do not know if I will return. That is it. There is nothing that I can do to prevent me from possibly… passing."
"You could simply not go with your troops. That would solve it."
"And let my generals take the entire onslaught without someone to look to for guidance or to instill courage? I've been on the front lines before and—" he was cut short by a protest.
"And you are the king of the Canopy Kingdom now. You are not a soldier. At most, you are a Commander, a commander of forces. You would do well to sit and command with messengers, rather than atop a mount on the front lines." His wife protested quickly.
"I cannot do that Lamia. This place, this castle, I cannot sit here while my people get slaughtered. I believe what I am bringing to the field, along with myself, could sway the upcoming battles in our favor."
"How do you suppose? You are but one man. The man that I love, but one man."
"And I love you. The Gigans are brutes; large and vicious brutes. However, they do not have technology on their side, nor any general or commander to instruct them."
"Are you certain? Have you consulted your messengers?"
"They have seen a woman of our stature with them, but she has not been in any form of power in their ranks. She seems nothing more than a merchant from a far land to the south."
"The southern deserts? What could she be planning?"
"It matters not. She has simply given them small items of need and has not given them anything substantial that they cannot find for themselves. The Gigans arm themselves with clubs and rocks, while we arm ourselves with guns, armor, and swords. If we can overpower them, they do not stand a chance."
"You sound very full of yourself my king. What makes you so sure you have the upper hand in this fight and should display yourself on the front lines for your enemies to see?"
"Our kingdom has made something that can defeat any being, and can unleash tremendous power upon our enemies. It is a device that functions much like a heart, taking over the body in a way that unleashes its potential, and increases it by untold amounts. The creation freezes the blood in place, keeping the user alive with its own infinite power source, and continues to be active until switched off. We call it, the Heart of Power."
Lamia looked to her husband with a small glare. She had appreciated technology for its advancements to society, and how it had helped Venus be able to see the world around her, but using technology to develop tools of war, she could not stand. The king before her had changed, and while she still loved him, she felt hollow, and distant from the man she once knew.
"Ah. I see. However, you have a flaw in your design," She says, holding a finger up to him, "How does one operate your device? By simply being close or holding it?"
"We have put in a small way of unlocking it, and attaching it to the body. To unlock it, you must provide a 'pure' wish for it to grant. It sounds idiotic, but it requires you to think a bit. The heart will understand a pure wish as something that you have no gain from and that you wholly wish to come true. It is strange and quite…awkward, but the easiest and best wish we have come up with so far is simply, 'I want to protect…'" He says, trailing off.
"Protect what?" His wife takes the bait.
"That is just it. Without the rest of the phrase to go on, it simply sees you as someone who wants to protect what it thinks; the meek, the poor, the downtrodden, protecting somebody that will give you nothing in return; its fool proof!"
The queen did not buy into this, but felt like her husband had taken precautions for once for this, and trusted him as much as she could. "I understand dear, but… why are you telling me this?"
"I… I just…" He was at a loss for words. The thought of war, conflict, and battle had raged within him during the explanation, and he had lost his thoughts for the conversation entirely. "I… I simply wanted to tell you to not worry. I will be safe. Our nation, our daughters, you and I, we will all be safe."
The queen stood and moved to her husband, kissing his forehead. "It does not mean I still will not pray for your safety. I believe you my king. Let us head to bed. We need to gather the girls as well and take them to bed." She says with a large smile. Her smile had always been a ray of hope for the king, something he could always use to guide himself or use for strength. Now however, he felt a cloud of doubt sink into him. She believed in him, yes, but he did not feel he believed the words he said. He had put on a display to keep her from worrying, and he had shrouded himself in that same belief. The device he spoke of was extremely experimental. Only one of five tests had come back positive and ended with the subject experiencing horrible things in his mind. The king wanted none of it. But, it was what his researchers had created to combat the Gigans, so he had to trust their judgment. At a loss for words or anything to retort, he stood with her, hand in hand, and walked to their children's playroom, to take the groggy girls to their beds and allow them to pass the night by sweetly as the two parents left for their own rooms.
The king lay awake in bed as his wife slept comfortably, having peace in her mind. He lay there looking at the canopy of his bed, draped in glorious soft fabrics that shielded his eyes from the bright moonlight in his windows. He could not understand how his wife was so sure of his victory. Was it the Trinity she believes in so much that keeps her so calm? He thought to himself as he looked around the room, listening to the sounds of streetwalkers outside. He felt scared and alone in his own body, thinking about that thing his team had created. They nicknamed it "The Skullheart" for its design that made it look so menacing, and the blue aura it radiated. His researchers said that it was an ancient device used in the past for conquest and they had made modifications on it but still… The thoughts lingered in him. Soon, he would become something he may not be able to control, and it scared him.
The day broke quickly, and the king was up before his wife, at nearly five in the morning. The sun had begun shining before it reached the rise in the hills, and the king had wanted to get ahead of himself in the day to ensure he was fully prepared. An early breakfast downstairs, and suiting himself up for the supposed coming battle, and began his waiting. His wife woke up soon after him, and woke the girls up as well to see him off. Two hugs and two small kisses to the cheek were given to him, along with a long and tight hug from his wife, with a gently kiss upon his lips which he remembered for the entire day. His wife and daughters waved goodbye to him as he set off from the castle to the barracks of his army, and then, into the field of battle.