Notes Before The Story
Please be patient for the next few chapters that I am currently writing. You may not borrow or add to this story without asking my permission, and you may not use the character names that I have created. If you like my story, please tell me, and if you do not, please inform me of its flaws. Thank you.
Signed----Mike
Disclaimer - I do not own Shining Force or any of the characters in it beside the ones I have created through my own imagination. I do not own any cities or towns in Shining Force, and I do not plan on making money from my story.
Shining Force II
Return of the Devil King
Chapter 1 - The Son of a Hero
The sun's light peeked through the window of the dim room, pulling itself across the crimson floor. The sunlight splashed along the floor and walls of the room, and drown out the darkness, soon creeping up the bed of a boy, and lightly running across his tan skin. The boy awoke and rubbed one eye, his body still weak and tired from the night before, the night in which he trained for hours of his own free will.
He sat up and scratched his head, then yawned loudly, before getting up to get dressed. His right arm was still sore, as were his legs and neck, from his intense training in swordplay. He slowly crept down the hard, cold tower stairs, still wiping the sleep from his eyes. There was some chatter coming from downstairs, as there often was in the early morning in the hall of the castle.
As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he was cheerfully greeted by the soldiers standing guard, and by many of the other townspeople who frequently visit the castle to speak with the king about village conflicts and disturbances. He walked slowly toward the throne room, making sure his hair was straitened and his eyes were open wide enough to disguise his exhaustion and sleepiness. He walked through the large arc doorway, which was brilliantly decorated with bright red curtains and golden tassels, into the throne room.
A tall, handsome man sat in the throne before him, his light brown hair was streaked with gray from age, and his face was slightly wrinkled, yet bright and lively, and his cheeks were a pale red. His turquoise eyes looked from a stocky villager to the boy, and a faint smile grew on the man's face. The villager left soon after, and the man addressed the boy in a strong, loud voice, that was gentle enough to make the boy feel at ease, yet more tired then he already was.
"Ah, Orin," the man said gently, "you are awake. Have you eaten yet?"
"Not yet father," Orin murmured, trying to hide his lack of sleep, "but I will be sure to before I leave."
Orin's face greatly resembled his father's, and yet his hair was a much darker color, and his eyes were that of his mother's. The king nodded at Orin with a smile still covering his face, and Orin left the room without another word.
"Off to school, is he?" said a voice from a nearby doorway.
"Yes dear, he seems to grow more tired every day with his training," said the king, "but it is of his own ambition that he continues to work on his skills."
"We have to make him stop soon, or he'll work himself to the grave." said the queen, as she walked from the doorway to the king's side.
"I know we must, but only if this continues," said the king with sincere worry in his voice, "we must not make him think his attempts at improving himself were wasted by our hand, Elis."
"Right……," the queen murmured as she walked toward the kitchen.
The king watched her leave, let out a sigh, then followed her in for breakfast.
Before Orin left, he grabbed some toast from the kitchen, and grabbed his sword and scabbard. He walked out of the castle and into the large outer court, were he was greeted by more guards, who seemed to be enjoying the beautiful day. Orin was not enjoying it, yet he didn't express his exhaustion, and replied to everyone's "Hellos" and "Good mornings."
Orin's footsteps echoed through the tunnel that led into town, and he yawned many times on the way through, and stopped to buckle his scabbard to his belt. It wasn't a real sword, just a wooden stick with a pointed end, and it could hardly break the skin of a foe. He had reminded himself many times that it was actually a club, but it was only for training anyway, and weighed much less than even the smallest of swords. Orin reached the end of the tunnel and was on the outside of the castle wall, in the village of Granseal. The name stood for "Ground Seal", an ancient place were a demon, or devil, had twice risen to destroy mankind, but was foiled once by the gods of the earth, and once by a mortal band of heroes, known as the Shining Force. The members of the force were not known to Orin, but that wasn't on his mind at the time. He was more worried about how long he could stay awake in class, because his teacher, Sir Gyan, was born to bore him with lectures. He was glad Sir Gyan was a master at the art of battle, because Orin would much rather be trained with battle techniques and in swordplay, than listen to lessons on strategic movement in battle.
Orin walked down the stairs and toward the well in the center of town, and at a more brisk pace than he had been walking before. He turned toward the large building to his left, and proceeded inside. The place was deserted as it was everyday when Orin got there, for he was always the earliest into school. The large tan mats lay against the wall, were the lesson plans for the day were hung above. The north west corner of the room was piled with books and other notes, that had obtained large layers of dust over the years that they sat idle. The desks sat near the back of the room closest to the doors, and were lined with ink and quills. The parchment was held in a small pile on each students stool, and the room was filled with the smell of garlic and spices that were used in experiments by the royal priestess Sarah. She was a well trained monk who had needs for many potions used in purification of someone's blood and mind, also known as "Detox". A large cauldron sat in the back corner by the door, and was dented and badly cracked from its years of experimental use.
Orin sat down at his desk and set up his quills, as he did so he also made sure his sword case was buckled properly, and began to write down a list of ways to hold a weapon in battle, and the correct ways of forming an aggressive and defensive stance. These sort of battle techniques would be on his test, and he would like to pass this one, but considering his lack of motivation towards written assignments, he was sure that he would not do well without studying first. Minutes later, the door opened slowly behind Orin and a small girl appeared in the doorway. Orin spun around immediately after hearing the door creek, and fell out of his seat at the site of the girl. He was not used to others being in class as early as himself, and was frightened that whomever had opened the door may be an enemy. He realized his stupidity because of the laughter coming from the girl as he got off the floor. His sore body was not in the condition to be falling over, and his it began to ache again, a bit worse than before. Orin quickly stood up and looked at the girl, his face was red from embarrassment, pain, and a bit of anger as well.
"Uhh….what are you doing here so early Ikara?" asked Orin as he rubbed his sore arm and picked up the spilt container of ink.
Ikara wiped away a tear of laughter and said, "I…(snicker)…I wanted to get here early to study. You know how Sir Gyan gets when your tests are not at least perfect."
Ikara walked to her desk, and on the way there, Orin thought she had said "You should know," but he convinced himself it was only his imagination. Ikara was a small girl with long, black hair, and dark green eyes. She wore blue robes and a shoulder cloak of a black color. She kept her staff in the school basement, which was probably dusty by now, because where Ikara lacked physical training, she was great as a spell caster, and had the smarts to get perfect scores on most of her tests. Ikara seemed to be Orin's exact opposite, and though they were fond of each others company, they didn't consider themselves the best of friends. They often had disagreements and argued most of the time.
Orin cleaned up the spilt ink, and got a new container from the black bookshelf to his left, and proceeded to take down his notes again. They both sat for about 20 minutes, before the door opened again, but this time, Orin only peeked over his shoulder to see who had entered, and noticed Ikara had done the same. There, in the doorway, stood a short man with a dark orange shirt and red pants on. He had a small red helm, and a long red beard and mustache, with small beady eyes that were a dark brown. He carried a large axe on his back that looked red, as if it had been tempered seconds before, yet the red tint never died from the axe.
The man nodded to Ikara and Orin to keep working, and walked past them to the stairs, and disappeared into the basement. Orin thought Sir Gyan looked rather sickly that day, but gave it little thought and continued his studying. Now Orin's wrist was tired and sore from writing, as was the rest of his body, and he stood up and looked to Ikara, who had been reading the piece of parchment on the wall which listed the day's agenda.
"I'm going for a short walk until school starts, if Sir asks, tell him I've gone for a walk." said Orin as he opened the door.
"Ok, but you had better be back before the lesson starts, or you'll have hell to pay from Sir Gyan." said Ikara, not taking her eyes of the book she had picked up.
Orin closed the door quietly behind him, and walked toward the well again. There were people gathered around gossiping and filling their buckets for bathing and drinking. A few villagers, those that weren't in heated conversation, waved politely to him. Orin waved back and smiled, then turned to his left toward the chapel. The chapel looked as most ordinary ones do. It was lined with decorative awnings and the stained glass windows shown pictures of aged mythology of the Greeks. Pictures such as Apollo and the seven headed Hydra lined the outer walls. Orin admired these windows and their occupants, as he walked around to the front of the chapel, which was topped with a large white cross which was engraved with words unreadable from Orin's point of view.
Orin opened a large door and quietly walked into the chapel. Inside, there were several villagers and the children lighting candles and praying in front of a large statue of a God whom once helped the Shining Force to trap the Devil King in Ground Seal. The statue was of a large black bird, with two large red eyes, and, at his feet, was a Goddess, whose name was not known by Orin. The Goddess had long, frosty blue hair, and matching eyes, with a long white robe of priceless silk. She wore a crown of solid gold, and held a large blue orb in one hand, and a similar brown orb in the other. Both were impossible to remove by human or demon, but only moveable by the goddess that held them. The orbs weren't the originals, but greatly resembled the real orbs of the sky and the earth.
Orin walked down the isle of pews toward the large marble statues. As he did so, many people lifted there heads to stare at Orin, and some even pointed at him, and whispered to others. They were much different in attitude then those who had greeted him at the well and in the castle. Orin knew they would act this way, because no one of royal blood would ever visit a villagers chapel, when they had their very own private chapel in the castle. Orin didn't want to go to the kingdoms chapel, because he knew very well that his mother and father would overhear his prayers, and this, Orin did not want. He sat on an empty pew, and began to pray for himself. He prayed his sore body would be healed, and he would feel more energetic. He also prayed for his lack of sleep to be no consequence to his daily life. Orin had no intention on stopping his training because of these issues, but would be much more comfortable if the burdens were lifted.
He prayed for what seemed like hours, and finally stood to leave. Orin still felt his body aching slightly, and turn to leave the chapel. When he looked to the door, it opened and the rays of the sun blinded him from the dim light of the chapel, and he could not see who had entered. After the door closed, he saw that it was the Grand Priestess, Sarah. She had long blue hair, and blue eyes, and she wore a long, flowing blue robe, a vicars hat with the sign of the royal family. She spotted Orin immediately, and her eyes widened, and her mouth fell slightly open. The priestess quickly regained her calm personality, and made a brisk walk, if not a sprint, to Orin.
"Orin…why are you here??" she asked with a look of curiosity in her eyes, "Why didn't you go to the royal chapel, instead of the villagers church?"
"Sorry ma'am….I was curious to see what it looked like here, but I would never consider praying here." Orin backed away from Sarah slightly, and looked at the ground as he spoke.
"It's ok Orin, you have every right to pray here," said Sarah in a gentle voice, "you know, you father used to come here all the time before school, when he wasn't late, that is."
Orin nodded at the priestess and she smiled and walked back to the alter in front of the two statues. Orin walked out of the castle, pondering what Sarah had said. He had never known that his father was not born into royalty, and was surprised to know that he and Sarah had both been average villagers in their youth. Orin thought maybe his father had earned the throne in a different way, but he wondered, what extraordinary deed has his father accomplished to become the king of this kingdom.
Please be patient for the next few chapters that I am currently writing. You may not borrow or add to this story without asking my permission, and you may not use the character names that I have created. If you like my story, please tell me, and if you do not, please inform me of its flaws. Thank you.
Signed----Mike
Disclaimer - I do not own Shining Force or any of the characters in it beside the ones I have created through my own imagination. I do not own any cities or towns in Shining Force, and I do not plan on making money from my story.
Shining Force II
Return of the Devil King
Chapter 1 - The Son of a Hero
The sun's light peeked through the window of the dim room, pulling itself across the crimson floor. The sunlight splashed along the floor and walls of the room, and drown out the darkness, soon creeping up the bed of a boy, and lightly running across his tan skin. The boy awoke and rubbed one eye, his body still weak and tired from the night before, the night in which he trained for hours of his own free will.
He sat up and scratched his head, then yawned loudly, before getting up to get dressed. His right arm was still sore, as were his legs and neck, from his intense training in swordplay. He slowly crept down the hard, cold tower stairs, still wiping the sleep from his eyes. There was some chatter coming from downstairs, as there often was in the early morning in the hall of the castle.
As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he was cheerfully greeted by the soldiers standing guard, and by many of the other townspeople who frequently visit the castle to speak with the king about village conflicts and disturbances. He walked slowly toward the throne room, making sure his hair was straitened and his eyes were open wide enough to disguise his exhaustion and sleepiness. He walked through the large arc doorway, which was brilliantly decorated with bright red curtains and golden tassels, into the throne room.
A tall, handsome man sat in the throne before him, his light brown hair was streaked with gray from age, and his face was slightly wrinkled, yet bright and lively, and his cheeks were a pale red. His turquoise eyes looked from a stocky villager to the boy, and a faint smile grew on the man's face. The villager left soon after, and the man addressed the boy in a strong, loud voice, that was gentle enough to make the boy feel at ease, yet more tired then he already was.
"Ah, Orin," the man said gently, "you are awake. Have you eaten yet?"
"Not yet father," Orin murmured, trying to hide his lack of sleep, "but I will be sure to before I leave."
Orin's face greatly resembled his father's, and yet his hair was a much darker color, and his eyes were that of his mother's. The king nodded at Orin with a smile still covering his face, and Orin left the room without another word.
"Off to school, is he?" said a voice from a nearby doorway.
"Yes dear, he seems to grow more tired every day with his training," said the king, "but it is of his own ambition that he continues to work on his skills."
"We have to make him stop soon, or he'll work himself to the grave." said the queen, as she walked from the doorway to the king's side.
"I know we must, but only if this continues," said the king with sincere worry in his voice, "we must not make him think his attempts at improving himself were wasted by our hand, Elis."
"Right……," the queen murmured as she walked toward the kitchen.
The king watched her leave, let out a sigh, then followed her in for breakfast.
Before Orin left, he grabbed some toast from the kitchen, and grabbed his sword and scabbard. He walked out of the castle and into the large outer court, were he was greeted by more guards, who seemed to be enjoying the beautiful day. Orin was not enjoying it, yet he didn't express his exhaustion, and replied to everyone's "Hellos" and "Good mornings."
Orin's footsteps echoed through the tunnel that led into town, and he yawned many times on the way through, and stopped to buckle his scabbard to his belt. It wasn't a real sword, just a wooden stick with a pointed end, and it could hardly break the skin of a foe. He had reminded himself many times that it was actually a club, but it was only for training anyway, and weighed much less than even the smallest of swords. Orin reached the end of the tunnel and was on the outside of the castle wall, in the village of Granseal. The name stood for "Ground Seal", an ancient place were a demon, or devil, had twice risen to destroy mankind, but was foiled once by the gods of the earth, and once by a mortal band of heroes, known as the Shining Force. The members of the force were not known to Orin, but that wasn't on his mind at the time. He was more worried about how long he could stay awake in class, because his teacher, Sir Gyan, was born to bore him with lectures. He was glad Sir Gyan was a master at the art of battle, because Orin would much rather be trained with battle techniques and in swordplay, than listen to lessons on strategic movement in battle.
Orin walked down the stairs and toward the well in the center of town, and at a more brisk pace than he had been walking before. He turned toward the large building to his left, and proceeded inside. The place was deserted as it was everyday when Orin got there, for he was always the earliest into school. The large tan mats lay against the wall, were the lesson plans for the day were hung above. The north west corner of the room was piled with books and other notes, that had obtained large layers of dust over the years that they sat idle. The desks sat near the back of the room closest to the doors, and were lined with ink and quills. The parchment was held in a small pile on each students stool, and the room was filled with the smell of garlic and spices that were used in experiments by the royal priestess Sarah. She was a well trained monk who had needs for many potions used in purification of someone's blood and mind, also known as "Detox". A large cauldron sat in the back corner by the door, and was dented and badly cracked from its years of experimental use.
Orin sat down at his desk and set up his quills, as he did so he also made sure his sword case was buckled properly, and began to write down a list of ways to hold a weapon in battle, and the correct ways of forming an aggressive and defensive stance. These sort of battle techniques would be on his test, and he would like to pass this one, but considering his lack of motivation towards written assignments, he was sure that he would not do well without studying first. Minutes later, the door opened slowly behind Orin and a small girl appeared in the doorway. Orin spun around immediately after hearing the door creek, and fell out of his seat at the site of the girl. He was not used to others being in class as early as himself, and was frightened that whomever had opened the door may be an enemy. He realized his stupidity because of the laughter coming from the girl as he got off the floor. His sore body was not in the condition to be falling over, and his it began to ache again, a bit worse than before. Orin quickly stood up and looked at the girl, his face was red from embarrassment, pain, and a bit of anger as well.
"Uhh….what are you doing here so early Ikara?" asked Orin as he rubbed his sore arm and picked up the spilt container of ink.
Ikara wiped away a tear of laughter and said, "I…(snicker)…I wanted to get here early to study. You know how Sir Gyan gets when your tests are not at least perfect."
Ikara walked to her desk, and on the way there, Orin thought she had said "You should know," but he convinced himself it was only his imagination. Ikara was a small girl with long, black hair, and dark green eyes. She wore blue robes and a shoulder cloak of a black color. She kept her staff in the school basement, which was probably dusty by now, because where Ikara lacked physical training, she was great as a spell caster, and had the smarts to get perfect scores on most of her tests. Ikara seemed to be Orin's exact opposite, and though they were fond of each others company, they didn't consider themselves the best of friends. They often had disagreements and argued most of the time.
Orin cleaned up the spilt ink, and got a new container from the black bookshelf to his left, and proceeded to take down his notes again. They both sat for about 20 minutes, before the door opened again, but this time, Orin only peeked over his shoulder to see who had entered, and noticed Ikara had done the same. There, in the doorway, stood a short man with a dark orange shirt and red pants on. He had a small red helm, and a long red beard and mustache, with small beady eyes that were a dark brown. He carried a large axe on his back that looked red, as if it had been tempered seconds before, yet the red tint never died from the axe.
The man nodded to Ikara and Orin to keep working, and walked past them to the stairs, and disappeared into the basement. Orin thought Sir Gyan looked rather sickly that day, but gave it little thought and continued his studying. Now Orin's wrist was tired and sore from writing, as was the rest of his body, and he stood up and looked to Ikara, who had been reading the piece of parchment on the wall which listed the day's agenda.
"I'm going for a short walk until school starts, if Sir asks, tell him I've gone for a walk." said Orin as he opened the door.
"Ok, but you had better be back before the lesson starts, or you'll have hell to pay from Sir Gyan." said Ikara, not taking her eyes of the book she had picked up.
Orin closed the door quietly behind him, and walked toward the well again. There were people gathered around gossiping and filling their buckets for bathing and drinking. A few villagers, those that weren't in heated conversation, waved politely to him. Orin waved back and smiled, then turned to his left toward the chapel. The chapel looked as most ordinary ones do. It was lined with decorative awnings and the stained glass windows shown pictures of aged mythology of the Greeks. Pictures such as Apollo and the seven headed Hydra lined the outer walls. Orin admired these windows and their occupants, as he walked around to the front of the chapel, which was topped with a large white cross which was engraved with words unreadable from Orin's point of view.
Orin opened a large door and quietly walked into the chapel. Inside, there were several villagers and the children lighting candles and praying in front of a large statue of a God whom once helped the Shining Force to trap the Devil King in Ground Seal. The statue was of a large black bird, with two large red eyes, and, at his feet, was a Goddess, whose name was not known by Orin. The Goddess had long, frosty blue hair, and matching eyes, with a long white robe of priceless silk. She wore a crown of solid gold, and held a large blue orb in one hand, and a similar brown orb in the other. Both were impossible to remove by human or demon, but only moveable by the goddess that held them. The orbs weren't the originals, but greatly resembled the real orbs of the sky and the earth.
Orin walked down the isle of pews toward the large marble statues. As he did so, many people lifted there heads to stare at Orin, and some even pointed at him, and whispered to others. They were much different in attitude then those who had greeted him at the well and in the castle. Orin knew they would act this way, because no one of royal blood would ever visit a villagers chapel, when they had their very own private chapel in the castle. Orin didn't want to go to the kingdoms chapel, because he knew very well that his mother and father would overhear his prayers, and this, Orin did not want. He sat on an empty pew, and began to pray for himself. He prayed his sore body would be healed, and he would feel more energetic. He also prayed for his lack of sleep to be no consequence to his daily life. Orin had no intention on stopping his training because of these issues, but would be much more comfortable if the burdens were lifted.
He prayed for what seemed like hours, and finally stood to leave. Orin still felt his body aching slightly, and turn to leave the chapel. When he looked to the door, it opened and the rays of the sun blinded him from the dim light of the chapel, and he could not see who had entered. After the door closed, he saw that it was the Grand Priestess, Sarah. She had long blue hair, and blue eyes, and she wore a long, flowing blue robe, a vicars hat with the sign of the royal family. She spotted Orin immediately, and her eyes widened, and her mouth fell slightly open. The priestess quickly regained her calm personality, and made a brisk walk, if not a sprint, to Orin.
"Orin…why are you here??" she asked with a look of curiosity in her eyes, "Why didn't you go to the royal chapel, instead of the villagers church?"
"Sorry ma'am….I was curious to see what it looked like here, but I would never consider praying here." Orin backed away from Sarah slightly, and looked at the ground as he spoke.
"It's ok Orin, you have every right to pray here," said Sarah in a gentle voice, "you know, you father used to come here all the time before school, when he wasn't late, that is."
Orin nodded at the priestess and she smiled and walked back to the alter in front of the two statues. Orin walked out of the castle, pondering what Sarah had said. He had never known that his father was not born into royalty, and was surprised to know that he and Sarah had both been average villagers in their youth. Orin thought maybe his father had earned the throne in a different way, but he wondered, what extraordinary deed has his father accomplished to become the king of this kingdom.