EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTES THAT SHOULD BE READ BEFORE READING THIS PROLOGUE

The Prologue of A Hero-King's Journey documents the events leading up to my other FE fanfiction, Consolation. If you haven't read Consolation yet, it is highly recommended you do so before reading this for any of this to actually make sense. ( s/13667728/1/Consolation)

With that being said, enjoy.

"The most dangerous weapon of all is your emotions. They're sharper than any blade, piercing through the heart with effortless might. They burn in rage like hellfire, but unlike such an entity they are more subtle with their approach. They burn the individual mentally, not physically. The only way to not spread your fire is to conceal it."

"But I can't."

"You know very well you can. If you let go of your defenses, you will be vulnerable to everyone- even to your own allies."

"You know very well I can't!"

"Silence your own doubt! You're only giving into it. This is what your demons want. They want you to suffer. Do you wish to live your entire life in vulnerability?"

"I don't want to!"

"Then conceal yourself!"

"I can't!"

Overprotective wouldn't be the right word to describe King Cornelius's relationship with his son, Prince Marth of Altea. Seeing as though he is the source of his own son's contempt, it's clear he was feared by Marth as well. But there was a side of Cornelius that showed he did care about his son, and that he did want him to succeed- of course, not in the ways he usually forces him to. Cornelius saw emotions to be a weakness to his son and that they always overcome his judgment, so by concealing them he thought his son would at least overcome his troubles. This backfired, however, as Marth seemed to be the kind of person whose judgment entirely originates from his emotions.

Even at this moment, when Jagen tried to see if Marth could respond to him peacefully, even then it was causing trouble for him.

"I'm sorry, I- I can't control my own emotions… and I know that sounds foolish because I control my own thoughts. Clearly, I should have a say in how I process things!" Marth's voice sounded very weak and nervous, almost perturbed. Jagen had come to expect this from him though; it was pretty clear Marth didn't know how to approach others in ways that would make him feel comfortable.

"My lord… what is it that troubles you, then?"

Marth attempted to speak up, his voice still sounding weak and vulnerable, almost like he's shying away from everyone, even the ones he feels comfortable being around.

"It's just… with you here… with anyone here… I'm really nervous." He flinched and closed his eyes, awaiting Jagen to respond with physical violence (despite that never being the case whenever he was around the prince). "I'm sorry…"

"You mustn't feel nervous, Prince Marth. If you want, speak your mind. Maybe it'll help you out."

Jagen reached for the boy's shoulders to reassure him he will be fine.

"I'm starting my adulthood sparring match just two days from now," Marth started, his voice still continuing to sound apprehensive- almost sickly in a way, but quieter in tone and distressed in the mind. "I've never really fought anyone before… I mean, you did teach me, but…" Marth kept the one memory of him accidentally attacking an innocent to himself, not wanting to share it with others for the fear of guilt. (After that moment, he saw himself as a monster.) Jagen knew of Marth's memory, however- he was present there.

"I assure you, my lord, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes, moments like those just happen. If it makes you feel any better… some of it has happened to me too."

"Really? Oh… well, everyone's coming too, and- I am- um, I don't know-" Marth's mind raced to think of what was happening. Several of the Altean knights were assigned to tend to Marth during the fight if it was any help to him. "I wasn't sure if- never mind."

"Go on."

"I'm… I'm scared… scared to fight."

For all 12 going on 13 years of his life at that point, Marth had stayed in Castle Altea, locked away from the outside, and only trained when told to. He never even left the inside of the castle, and he was completely oblivious to what was happening in his kingdom due to his fear of judgment. He was extremely shy and liked to stay within his own boundaries, away from most people and only by the ones he was comfortable around. He just preferred it to be that way. It was easy for him to be scared, and he especially felt that way around others for their high standards of the royals had directly attacked his own self-esteem.

"I hope you understand, Jagen, I really do. I'm honestly really nervous around everyone, really- I'm sure you know that already. It's just… with my father being harsh, and mother and Elice being busy… I don't know if I'll be okay." Marth always felt safe around Princess Elice and Queen Liza, his sister, and mother respectively. It seemed as though the others thought he had outgrown the feeling of being safe by his older family members, but in reality, they kept him from wandering his thoughts into the perilous path of doubt.

"You will be fine, Prince Marth." Despite his response, even Jagen was unsure of whether or not they would be okay. Marth genuinely did not like to use violence as means for anything, and due to Cornelius's relentless behavior towards Marth whenever he would fail to perform well, things could very likely head in a bad direction.

"I shouldn't worry about this though, shouldn't I? I mean, the other kings have dealt with this before, surely I'll be alright!" Marth tried to be optimistic, and Jagen didn't want to send him back to his unsure self. Instead, he decided to approach Marth in a way that wouldn't bring him any fear or concern.

"Do you see this, Prince Marth?" Jagen pulled out his sword and held it in front of Marth, who stared, confused as to what he was trying to do.

"It's your sword…"

"Yes." He continued to hold it in front of Marth, moving it around slightly as he spoke. "Swords are demonstrations of power and strength, but also courage." He put his sword down.

"Oh…"

"I taught you for all these years how to fight with a sword. Essentially, I was teaching you how to strengthen your courage. I understand sword fighting may not be your strongest attribute, but it is important to you as it builds your courage. You are someone who desperately needs something like this."

Marth smiled at this advice.

"So if I wield a sword in battle, I wield the courage to fight for my kingdom?"

"That is exactly right, my lord. You understand now!"

Marth felt a feeling of happiness that was unexpected at the moment but brought him so much pleasure. He finally understood what everyone had been teaching him, and that all of this was done to improve his emotions. But there was still something plaguing him.

"Jagen… don't tell my father I was doubting myself earlier. He'll probably punish me for that, and I don't like to be punished by him."

"I understand. I don't think anyone in Altea likes to face his wrath, for he just subjects his victims to pain. I won't tell him anything." Jagen had tended to Marth long enough for him to know how scared Marth is of his father, but Jagen was always on his side and did as his liege said. If Marth didn't want to face Cornelius's wrath, he didn't have to.

Marth went up to Jagen and hugged him closely, a very happy expression on his face and a lot of energy flowing through him. As a boy plagued with disapproval and contempt, he had finally felt optimistic about something that worried him sick.

Swords can crush through the hearts of many, impaling them with pain and suffering. But they can also provide hope and courage, they can point to a vision of a better kingdom filled with righteousness and peace. It just all depends on how the actions are carried out.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Yeah, this prologue was total garbage. I know. Really bad way to start the story, but honestly, I can assure you that it gets better. In all honesty, I had no idea how to even start a story like this, I didn't want to immediately start with all of the details but I also didn't want it to start on some weird note. So I tried to instead provide a scenario that would supposedly connect with the emotional core of the story, but wouldn't overstay its welcome and get its point conveyed, and the reader would move on after that, and voila, we have this mediocre mess of a prologue. I could've rewritten it, but at the same time, I really just wanted to move on from this. This really wasn't meant to be read as just its own thing, but hey, it'll do for now. I think it has some good things, like the sword symbolism and the detail I included with Jagen's words being in italicized to represent his firm belief while Marth's words remained normal to represent that he wasn't locked into his mindset yet, I don't know, just something cool I wanted to include. All of the emotional moments will be much better in the future of the story, don't worry. Just pair this up with the far superior Consolation and you get the prologue of A Hero-King's Journey.

Chapter 1 will be out very shortly and will be MUCH better than this. I probably shouldn't be writing these during midnight as well. Maybe if I'm in the mood to write they'll be much better too.