Upon entering the town of Deva, I noticed someone that looked familiar. He was crying in a corner of the town square.
"Teru!" I yelled, getting the attention of the short brunette boy that I knew. "What happened?"
"They…" The short boy wiped tears from his eyes. "They…" More tears fell from his eyes, and he sobbed, unable to continue talking.
I accompanied him for a while, trying to comfort him as he cried.
Finally, after a while, he managed to say something.
"They… they took her away…" He sniffled. "They'll… they'll kill her…"
I couldn't believe it. Why… why her? I punched a nearby wall in frustration, tears blinding by vision and judgement. However, as the wall was very sturdy, I hurt myself and yelled out in pain. I bit my lip and attempted to ignore the pain.
"Teru." The younger boy looked at me.
"Yeah, Kairu-san?"
I took a deep breath, and said something I'll never regret.
"I promise to rescue your sister. I'll keep on trying until I die."
It took a while for the young boy to absorb what I just said, but after a while, he managed to say something.
"Thank you Kairu-san." He hugged me, and I hugged him back.
"You're welcome, Teru." I said.
I wake up, and Teru disappears in the morning light. Instead of Deva Town Square, I find myself in a room, not of my own.
Suddenly, I remember.
As prince of the town of Iris, I am here to attend a meeting. However, I was left in the dark about why I am here, probably so I don't have a biased opinion on whatever the meeting will be about. Speaking about bias…
Iris is the only kingdom that I know of that doesn't try to kill magic users. I can't kill them, and I can't be like the royals of Deva and Aria, the ones that got Frey kidnapped.
Frey…
I will rescue you…
I promise…
I'll keep on trying till I die…
The tears fall down till they reached the floor, and soon I can't do much except lie down on the bed and cry.
And I continue to cry for who knows how long, until I hear a knock on my door. I know that I can't let others see me like this… but it's really impolite to keep people waiting. I reluctantly open the door to reveal Princess Elizabeth of the town of Aria, and one of my good friends.
"Hello Kairu!" She looks at me for a while and continues talking. " I take it that the smoke been bothering your eyes, right? "She says cheerfully.
"Yeah… wait… did you say smoke?" I look out the window, eyes scanning the area for any wildfires.
"Oh, don't worry, Kairu," she says, putting a hand on my shoulder. "There are no wildfires here, like there may be in Iris. The smoke is actually coming from a rather controlled Burning." What's a 'Burning' anyways? We don't have those in Iris… wait… don't tell me…
"What do they burn at a 'Burning'?" I ask. I have to know.
"Oh, just some mages and stuff." She responds casually.
Dammit.
I locate the fire and scan it with my eyes, hoping that Frey is not among the mages. Although there is a bunch of smoke thanks to the stupid fire, I manage to (make sure?) that Frey is not among the group of mages. But… wait… one of the so-called mages… that can't be him…
Please tell me that's not who I think it is…
Please tell me that the smoke is just distorting my vision…
Please tell me…
The wind blew the smoke away from me, letting me clearly see the scene.
"Well, we're screwed"