Act 1- Chapter 3: Legacy
Previously:
"It's funny… from here it looks like the world is peaceful, that there's no war going on right now; when in fact, Deviluke's moons are the least defended territories." Gid pointed. "The hope - is that one day, I can take the children up to mother Deviluke, to safer territories." Gid professed. "But I've still got a long way to go~"
"I hope… that one day, we can see Planet Deviluke too, just a little bit closer." Zastin agreed, reaching out a hand towards the planet.
And as the two boys mesmerised themselves into the majesty of space, they couldn't help but notice the haze of smoky smell in the air.
Gid gave a few loud sniffs as his face contorted into confusion. "Sniff… you smell that?"
"It smells like… smoke…fire…" Zastin realised. "…!"
The two briefly looked at each other and turned around, eyes widened in realisation. To the distance, a column of smoke climbed up the night, menacingly covering more and more of the woods' canopy. Bright orange hue of light emanating from that area of the woods. A haze of heat brushed over both their shocked faces.
Fire.
The orphanage.
(Music for mood: Tornado - Man of Steel OST)
"Fire... Fire at the Orphanage!" Gid realised, immediately standing up, running back towards the forest. "C'mon Zastin! We gotta go!"
"Gid-nii!" Zastin chased after the boy.
"No no no no no no..." Gid muttered, bashing through the dense forestry, not caring about the cuts that he received on his arms and legs from the sharp leaves. And with every step the boys took, they can feel the heat increasing relentlessly. The smell of burnt wood filled the air and their lungs as they ran. But they were also getting closer.
'A fire at the orphanage... How is this even possible?!' Questions and concerns raced in the boy's mind. Of all the nights, this just so happened to be the night if a fire. 'All the children... They-'
BOOOOOM!
To the not so far distance, behind the now lesser foliage, an explosion lit up all the skies above them as a column of inferno lit up the skies. The intense heat and shockwave blasted Gid and Zastin back several meters as they fell to the ground.
"Cough cough... No!" Gid and Zastin coughed and wheezed, the black smog was proving to be a hard obstacle to overcome. The twelve year old recovered from the leafy ground and ripped a piece of cloth from his tunic, covering his mouth and nose as he crouched, wading his way forward the rising black smoke. Instinctively, Zastin followed the caretaker's lead.
Within a few moments time, the duo of Devilukean finally emerged from the foliage and into a clearing.
"Oh god no..." Gid breathed in shock, as did Zastin. "Z-Z...Zastin..." He uttered in shock, his red eyes widened.
The wooden house before him was lit ablaze, cloaked by fire, brighter than anything they've ever laid eyes on. The cottage was burning from within, fire pouring out of the now non-existent windows and doorways. Wooden planks and beams beginning to deform and crumble, fallen down.
"Z...Zastin stay here... I'm gonna get them out...!" Gid mumbled, running into the house.
"No! Gid-nii! It's too..." But Zastin's voice trailed off as he realised that his voice fell on deaf's ears. He watched on with dear and worry as the caretaker disappeared courageously into the burning house.
"CHILDREN! CHILDREN!" Gid yelled aloud, swinging the cloth in his hand before him to wade off the fire. As if the temperature could get any hotter, or so he thought. The fire was more intense than anything he had imagined. He could barely keep his eyes open as he frantically peered around the room. Still he struggled his way through the doorways and eventually into the corridor. There was barely anything that wasn't aflame. The clicking and hisses of the fire surrounded him as he inched his way through the corridor.
But as he did, he peered through the first room he passed, his eyes widened as he became sick to the stomach, so much so that he had to force himself to look away, to supress the vomit.
An arm, a leg, burning bodies.
He pushed onto the second room, but he dared not look into any one of them, for all he could hear was the silence, the clicking and hushing of flames. He stared directly ahead with a blank face. Gid froze in the middle of the burning house.
"Gid-nii, watch out!" Zastin's voice yelled out from behind. And soon Gid felt his body dragged backwards as a large wooden beam came crashing down, crushing the floorboard where Gid had stood.
"Z-Zastin…" Gid recognised, his blank expression lingered on his face. Everything happened so fast, so sudden. He couldn't bring himself to find the appropriate reaction. "They… the children… they all…"
"We have to go! This place is collapsing!" The nine year old yelled, pulling the twelve year old by the shoulders.
"B-But… the children… I have t-to save them…" Gid uttered blankly, looking into the fire, and it back.
"Gid…nii!" Zastin struggled as he yanked onto Gid's tail, finally getting his full attention. At the same time, the cracking and sizzling of everything around them filled the room all the louder, shards of wood and dust started to rain on them. The two Devilukean boys looked towards one another. A common understanding between the two grew all the more apparent. They had to leave, and soon. The two picked each other up and brought their cloths to their mouths and nostrils, staying crouched as they made their way out the burning orphanage.
"There's the doorway!" With Zastin in front of Gid, he was able to see the exit first. He took the caretaker by the hand and dragged him forward.
But Gid however, was a moment more perceptive.
Just as they were heading for the doorway. Gid looked up and saw a large supporting beam on top of the burning doorway, making creaking sounds as it threatened to tumble.
Without hesitation, Gid shoved Zastin forward from behind, pushing the child out of the doorway and into the dirt.
"Ooft!-" Zastin gasped as he fell forward into the cool dirt outside. He turned around to face the burning house, his eyes widened in shock. "What- GID!-" But before he could say anymore. A loud 'crack!' followed his wake.
"Auugh-!" The piece of beam cracked from the ceiling and fell onto Gid, who thankfully was just able to catch it with his hands and supported it with his back.
"Ghhhhh…!" Gid had never lifted something so heavy in his entire life. He could feel the bumps of the wooden log dig into his shoulders and back, pressing his entire body downwards.
"Gid-nii!-"
"GO! Get out of here Zastin! GOOO!" Gid struggle to yell in pain. "RUUN!" He screamed, and soon he felt his legs gave way as he dropped to one knee, his arms shaking.
"Gid-nii!... no…" Zastin gasped, scampering clumsily to his footing, but he was too shocked to find his balance.
"Ggnnnaaarrhhhhh!" Screamed the twelve year old at the top of his lungs as his strength waned and dwindled. And finally, the boy collapsed to the ground, the log over him came crashing down.
With the collapse of the beam, the burning house crackled and crumbled with a thunderous boom, the walls and ceiling tiles came crushing down. A burst of smoke and dust exploded outwards, blinding Zastin as he covered his face.
*The morning after…*
(Music for Mood: Sacrifice – Transformers: The Last Knight OST)
"Gaaasp…-cough! Cough!..." Amidst the ashy plains, a figure gasped for air for the first time, but profusely coughed up ash straight after. Every part of his body screamed agony as he laid there, on the dry ground. Zastin's blue eyes flickered opened, seeing the smoky sky above him. "Ugh…" He groaned out as he sat up from the soil, dust and debris falling off his figure, dusting out from his shaking head. He looked around him.
There was nothing.
"…" He had no words to describe what he saw, and even less people to tell them to. All around him was ash, a landscape of black grey. The orphanage in front of him stood no more, now reduced to but a pile of burnt wood and a heap of rocky debris. The gardens surrounding the orphanage and the woods behind were now but an empty husk of itself, crispy and fragile to the touch. There was deafening silence, and from the heavens rained ash. Wordlessly, the boy got up to his feet and dragged himself across the ground towards the orphanage.
He soon arrived to where the doorways once was, and saw the wooden log flat atop of the caretaker of the orphanage. "Gid… GID-nii!" He screamed, running to the heap of rubble. He knelt down and furiously clawed away at the rubble, pushing rocks and chunks of wood aside. Alas, the boy dragged the unconscious caretaker by the arms out of the rubble and backwards.
"Gid-nii!" He called out, now examining the boy more carefully. There Gid laid, smoke arising from his body, black soot and small burn marks littered his body, and the ash over his face and arms didn't help either. It had frightened Zastin greatly, seeing the twelve-year-old unresponsive, for he did not know what to do. Naturally, Zastin desperately looked around him for help, but there was no one.
'What do I do…? Gid-nii…' The child thought, now frightened as his breath quickened. He looked at Gid's body, and an image of the corpse by the river flashed in his mind. "Don't go downstream…" He repeated to himself. "Downstream…"
That's when it hit him. 'I have to go downstream...' He told himself. It was the only place with ample water and a sufficient shelter., it made sense to him. And so Zastin knelt beside Gid's form, scooping his arms under his knees and back. "Ghyaa…!" He pushed with all his might, but he was too weak, too dehydrated, to even lift the boy off the earth.
"Need… to go… downstream…" Zastin repeated to himself, now instead dragging the boy by the arms, step by step, through the burnt forestry. And as Zastin dragged themselves through the woods, he saw a gathering of prints in the mud, leading further to the left in the distance.
'Those… hoof prints? Why would there be hoof prints here…?' Zastin questioned curiously. But as he refocused his attention on Gid, he knew that the hoof prints meant naught now. And so he continued his journey, pulling Gid step by step through the woods, or what's left of it.
"We're… Almost… There…!" Zastin grunted to himself, dragging the caretaker and himself through the leafy ground. His tired trail soon ended when he reached the bottom of the decline of a small, hill, where he once tripped and tumbled to his discovery. He released Gid's hands as he stretched and huffed in exhaustion. "Downstream… finally… huff… huff…" He huffed and puffed, having made their day down to the river. And there they were again, the river pooling into a small pond, pooling outside the entrance of the large cavern. He physically shuddered at the chilling water filling up his furry boots.
'The cave… is it safe?' Zastin asked himself, looking at the gaping mouth of the cave, slightly intimidated by its jagged teeth and darkened path. But looking at Gid's condition, the boy breathe and finally mustered what little courage he had. The nine year old took Gid and circled around the pond of water, avoiding the decomposing caretaker on the way. And soon after, he had arrived at the cavern mouth.
"Whao…" Zastin's blue eyes gasped in awe, walking into the darkness. The sunlight from outside shone into the cave, gracing its depths with a glimmer of hope. Knowing he'll venture into the unknown, Zastin decided to set Gid aside onto a smooth facing rock by the entrance's side, sitting the unconscious boy up carefully.
"H-Hello?!..." Little Zastin's voice echoed through the walls of the cavern, bouncing all over the place, causing Zastin to turn all around as his own voice echoed all around him. He tredded into the dark carefully. And with every step, he could almost hear his own heart beating, his nervous breath sending steam into the chilling air. "Hello?!..." He again shouted. "I-If anyone's there… My friend Gid and I need help!" Zastin pleaded, taking some more nervous paces forward, "We… we have nowhere else to go…"
After a decline walk and squeezing through a tight corridor later, the boy found himself emerging into yet another cavern. But unlike the cave entrance, the walls were smooth and buttery, unnaturally so. The walls of the cavern was covered in mysterious rune symbols, seemingly etched into the rock's surface. In the center of the cavern was a small urn of bronze, purple embroidery etched into the urn's face. A single beam of light shining down at it from a small hole at the cave ceiling. Watching over the urn was a silent guardian, a tall man of stone, standing vigilantly behind the urn, unmovable as a rock. The armored statue posed with his hands together, cupping a mound of dirt, a small leafy plant sprouting in his hands. A steady rhythm of water trickled down from the above.
"HELLO?!..."
Hmmmmmmm…
"W-Who's there?!" Zastin shrieked, looking around the space. Panicking, the boy looked down and picked up a tree branch, holding it with both hands in front of him. He jolted in surprise as the runes on the walls surrounding him began to glow a faint gold.
"Approah… Child of Deviluke…" The deep voice reverberated through Zastin's brain. There was a sense of power and authority in the tone, but oddly gentle enough to command Zastin into following its demands as he walked towards the centre, his tail tucked between his legs. The boy gripped the branch between his hands all the more tighter.
"Behind you." The voice called out behind him. But it was too late already as Zastin blindly turned around, swinging the log with all his might. To his surprise, the branch sailed through whatever was in front of him, flying out of his hand and into the darkness of the room.
"Gahh!-Ooft!" Gid yelled as he swing, lost his footing and fell on his bottom.
"…Are you alright, child?"
"Oww…" Zastin groaned out, rubbing his head. It was then when he saw it.
The figure in front of him.
Standing tall, the spectral figure had faint black hair, blood red eyes, and a tail ending in a trident tip. He wore garbs of black and purple.
"Who… Who are you mister…?" Zastin breathed, finding what he is witnessing hard to believe. "A-Are you a g…ghost…?"
"It'd be rude not to introduce one's self first, especially when one waltzes into my burial chambers after six hundred years." The ghost replied, critically eyeing the boy, analysing his every move with curiosity.
"I… My name is Zastin. The orphanage I lived in close by was just burnt to the ground… we have nowhere else to go…" Zastin poured out, now thinking about Gid. "M-My friend! Gid! He's hurt really bad!"
"I see… and where is this Gid friend of yours?" The ghost asked, looking around the chamber.
"A-At the mouth of the cave."
"Well then, perhaps I can help, Child of Deviluke. Bring him to me."
"T-Thank you, stranger!" Zastin thanked profusely, picking himself up as he ran to retrieve Gid. The ghost watched as Zastin exited the cave, a slightly bewildered expression on his face.
(Music for Mood: Merlin's Staff – Transformers The Last Knight OST)
*Later on…*
"Huff… huff… gahh…" With a hefty sigh, Zastin propped Gid's body on the cold cave floor. He stood up tiredly and stretched his back.
"This is your friend Gid I presume?" The ghost asked, causing Zastin to jump in surprise.
"Gah!- Ah, y-yes mister..." Zastin replied, watching as the ghost silently made his way to the boy. "Mister…" he trailed off, "W-What is your name, mister?"
"Davo, Davo Lucione." The ghost answered.
"D-Davo… Lucione…?" Zastin repeated to himself. 'Why does that name sound so familiar…-?!'
But then it hit him.
"D-Davo Lucione… it couldn't be…" The nine year old boy breathed. "A-As in… the FIRST KING OF DEVILUKE?!" He exploded in shock, blue eyes wide as saucers. "B-But… how…"
"The one and only." The ghost pointed. "You know, I don't see the confusion. Last time I checked, this IS Moon Endurance, Deviluke's original settlement, and we are in my burial chambers after all."
"I… what…?!" The boy was too shocked to even respond.
"Be calm, Zastin of Deviluke." The ghost of the king commanded.
"Gid-nii… read stories about you… at the orphanage…" Zastin said to the spectral being. "H-How are you still here?"
"Well… death certainly has always eluded my understanding… I don't know. I'd like to think that even when my body fails me, death has not the courage to take my soul yet." He chuckled to himself. "But it's been six hundred years since I've met anyone…"
"The stories Gid-nii read about you… are they true?" The child asked.
"Which stories?" The ghost raised an eyebrow.
"The one where you defeat five assassins to protect Deviluke's crown. Was that true!?"
"…In part, yes." The king replied. "But I'm afraid that's not the full story."
"T-Then… what was the full story?" Zastin asked.
"…" The dead king gave a long look at young Devilukean, one that slightly intimidated the boy. "Yes there were five assassins that I defeated. Yes they came after Deviluke's treasure. But no, Deviluke's treasure was not it's king piece or even its crown for that matter."
"T-Then… what was it?" Zastin asked curiously, seeing the ghost held up a hand, palm facing up.
"It's was an artifact of profound power and knowledge, what we refer to as an 'Apple of EDEN'." King Davo proclaimed, and a holographic impression of an orb materialised in his open hand. The orb was metallic and glassy in its shine, mysterious runes etched into its spherical surface, which gleamed with an aura of serenity. The etchings on shone out rays of golden light, illuminating the entire cavern almost blindingly. "It was said to be a gift from our Heavenly Father himself."
"This…" The child had never seen something so pure, so divine in his life. The warm light it emanated seemingly drawing the boy in closer, tempting him forward. And soon he found himself reaching a hand for the Apple.
Until suddenly, it vanished with a brilliant burst of light. Gone was the Apple of EDEN, disappearing from the ghost's hand. "Armoured by the forbidden knowledge of the Apple of EDEN, The Devilukean Empire quickly expanded into an interplanetary race." The king explained. "But it is a fickle thing. It tempts and corrupts the hearts of men. Only the strongest were able to truly wield it without being seduced into corruption, which was why it has been, and always will be, a sacred secret."
"So if the five assassins never got their hands on this artefact, then where is it now?" The scorpion tailed child asked his elder.
"Before death came upon me, I sent the Apple far far away from any prying hands. Far away from any advanced races, to the furthest reaches of the Milky Way, where none shall use it for evil." The king said, putting his hand down. "I have sent it off I know not where."
"A-Amazing…" Zastin sighed.
"But that hardly matters anymore, wasn't your friend about to die?" The King reminded, looking over to the body on the cold floor.
"Oh sh- you're right!" Zastin cursed himself, looking over Gid, gesturing the ghost to come. "Th-This is the caretaker of the orphanage that we came from, his name is Gid sir."
"Gid…" The king repeated his name, looking over the boy. The ghost stayed that way for a while.
The silence was palpable; Zastin didn't know how to react. The ghost was merely looking over the boy, tilting his head once a while.
"Tell me, Zastin." The king said, never once leaving his red gaze on the boy. "Can you see any similarities between the two of us?" He asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Um… you and Gid-nii…?" Zastin wondered, his blue eyes flickering back and forth between the Devilukeans. But then it clicked. "Red eyes… black hair…"
"…And a trident tipped tail…"
"Genetics is an interesting phenomenon in life, in retrospect." The king elaborated. "Evolution has taught our bodies to pass on not only the genes that are critical to our survival, but also some aesthetic physical traits as well. For Devilukeans, the tail end is hereditary from father to son." The ghost pointed out, and form his form, his tail revealed itself.
'Both their tails… end with a trident…' Zastin realised. 'But what does that mean…?'
"And what do you make of that?" The ghost of King Davo asked.
"It couldn't be…" Zastin uttered. His eyes did not deceive him however. There was no mistaking it. The resemblance was striking, almost uncanny. Those piercing red eyes; those spiky black hair on their heads- and most distinct of all, the trident tipped tail that they both possessed was almost identical in all but length. 'King Davo… and Gid-nii…'
"…Are related…?" The boy finished his thought in shock, zoning in on Gid's face.
"It would seem that fate has bestowed on us a cruel and twisted turn." King Davo sighed. "IF… this orphan Gid, truly is my last descendant. Then either Deviluke has fallen, or the has entered great peril."
"Please sire… Gid is badly wounded. And the war… we have nowhere else… please help him!" Zastin begged.
"…Very well." The ghost said, pointing at his urn at the center of the cavern. "Open my urn, and in my urn, retrieve the pendant bearing the mark of the trident." The ghost instructed.
And wordlessly, the child obeyed, unsealing the bronze urn, a small puff of ash rose from the process, causing Zastin to cough. And true to the king's words, in it was a pendant of gold, the shape of a trident, decorated with plates of black crystals and gold. "Is this the Devilukean king piece…?" Zastin asked.
"Yes child, whomever bears the mark of the trident is recognised as the true heir to the throne. Now place it around his neck and repeat my words." The ghost said, hovering over Gid's body. And so Zastin did as instructed, hanging the pendant around the boy's neck.
"Good, now repeat after me."
"I, Davo Lucione of house Deviluke, King of Deviluke, first of my name. Hereby bestow this Devilukean king piece, to the true heir to the Devilukean throne, Gid Lucione of House Deviluke, first of his name." The king announced, and Zastin repeated.
Then, a soft hue of light emanated from the trident pendant. The same light emanated from the ghost.
"The pendant will use the remaining piece of my soul to heal the injured Gid sustained. I don't have much time left…" The king said, looking at his translucent hands. "Zastin."
"H-Hai?"
"During my reign as king, I had a friend- named Veloth. who stood my side as my Sentinel, my sword; and helped me grow the settlement into Deviluke you know today. He was like a brother to me. That's him there, the statue behind my urn." Davo said, pointing to the great stone statue of the knight. "Even in death… great Veloth still watches over me."
"…" Zastin simply gawked at the intimidating statue.
"Take the plant from the statue's hands." Davo said.
"…A plant?" Zastin's brows furrowed in slight confusion, but he complied nonetheless, approaching the giant statue. Standing on his tippy-toes, Zastin scooped the dirt and the plant from the statue's hands.
"Now kneel, Zastin." The king instructed seriously, hovering before the kneeling boy. "Do you, Zastin of Deviluke, do solemnly swear, to bear the burden as the First Sword of Deviluke, and pledge your allegiance to Gid Lucione Deviluke, the rightful heir of Deviluke? To support him always, to do anything and be anything you need be to him, until your dying breath, and beyond?" King Davo asked.
"…" Zastin gave the unconscious Gid a look, before looking back at the king. "…Yes…"
"Good." Davo announced loudly, "Now receive the roots of Knight Veloth, and be recognised!"
"Wha- UGH-!" Without warning, a wave of heat came over the kneeling boy, with it being most intense from the plant in his hands. The green sapling glowed slightly its glowing roots seemingly dug into Zastin's veins. Through his forearms, then up to his shoulder, up his trachea, his cheek, and finally ending in his right eye – the brown glowing veins lit up and pulsated as it coursed through his body, lighting up the inside slightly through the skin. His entire body became rigid as his head tilted up to the ceiling, screaming in agony. But the nine-year-old endured the pain for a few moments, before the light from the sapling died down.
"AHHHH!- ugh…hah…" Zastin lurched forward, gasping for the comfort after the ordeal, but he never once let go of the plant in his hands. "Wh… What was that…?" He gasped, opening his eyes for the first time, although something felt different.
"The sword of Veloth is not rooted within you, and you must take care of it. It is a weapon, forged during a time older than metal." The king explained, until his image began to flicker. "I do not have much time left in this world, listen to me now, dear Zastin…"
(Music for Mood: Sacrifice – Transformers The Last Knight OST)
"For centuries I've asked myself, why I still remain after death. And now centuries of pondering and observation have now fallen down to this very moment. Maybe this is what I'm meant to do, at the twilight of my soul's days on this plane. When the Apple of EDEN first revealed itself to me during the great migration, it showed me a vision. A vision… of a great man, with hair of black, eyes of crimson and a tail of trident, standing on top of the world. Heh… I have lived my life… believing that, that man was I. But… looking down at his face, I can see now that I was wrong. The man in the vision was not me. No… It is Gid, my last descendant. It is he who will bring upon an age of peace that I never could. It is he who will stand atop of the world- it is HE, who unite this very galaxy."
"Zastin…"
"S-Sire...!" Zastin asked with searching eyes, the ghost of the Devilukean dimming.
"Promise me you'll protect him, guide him. Guide him to what he must become. But you must ensure that he never finds out about this. Any of this."
"W-Why?" The little boy asked.
"Once your fate is revealed, your will act differently in knowledge of that said fate and thus alter the course of your future entirely. Please, promise me that he must never uncover any of this. But guide him."
"I… I promise." Zastin finished determinedly.
"Thank you…" With his very last breath, King Davo Lucione thanked the child, before his ghostly figure disintegrated into particles of light, rising into nothingness.
"…" There was absolute silence, so much had transpired, so much has been said. The nine-year-old Devilukean remained knelt on the ground, his eyes followed the fading ghost to the ceilings above.
"Gaaaahhh-! Huhh! Haahh!-" A hoarse voice beside Zastin gasped.
"GID-nii!" The boy called out, tending to the wounded child. "Are you alright?"
"Wh…Where are we…?" Gid sat up, black soot and dirt shaking off his face and figure as he moved for the first time. And as he did he felt an unfamiliar coldness tickling his sternum. He looked down and saw the trident shaped pendant hanging from his neck. "What is this?"
"Y-Your wounds… they're gone…" The Zastin responded, amazed as he look at him all over. "Last night… the orphanage caught on fire… we are the only ones who survived… I dragged you down to the cave by the river downstream. It was the only place I could…" But his voice trailed off as he studied the older boy's reaction to the news.
"N…No… that can't be…" Gid gulped, his crimson eyes blinking in shock. "T-The… the children… they might still be- I need to-"
"-Please Gid-nii. Don't…" Zastin urged, looking at the boy. "You don't want to see it."
"…" Gid huffed out tiredly, lying back on the cold cavern ground. Seemingly relaxed with quivering breath.
…
"GNAAAAAHHHHHH!" Gid suddenly screamed out loud, his pained yell echoed through the cave as he writhed on the ground frustratingly. "AGH!" He grunted, an arm over his sobbing face.
"G…Gid-nii…" Zastin quivered.
*A while later…*
The two Devilukean children sat at the mouth of the cave, downcasted in their expressions. A heavy silence hung in the air as the two listened to the sounds of water crashing, flowing. Small rays of sunshine eventually filtered through the clouds, bursting forth.
"…"
"…"
"Your eyes." Gid noticed quietly. "They're different."
"Huh?" Zastin asked.
"You right eye, it's grey."
"W-What?" The scorpion tailed child said, squatting down at a puddle on the cave ground. And there he saw it. What used to be both his blue eyes now ceased to exist, with one now being blue and the other a dark grey. 'Is this… after the blessing of Veloth…' Zastin thought, looking at the green sapling now safely in one of his boot beside him.
"None of those children will ever get to see planet Deviluke." Gid asked himself, looking to the distant river. "This is all my fault..." His eyes empty and lost, looking at his distorted reflection in the water before him. "I should have stayed with them..."
"How can you blame yourself?" Zastin asked. "Would it have been any different if we had stayed in the orphanage?"
"...Perhaps." Gid replied. "And maybe I would've died burning alongside children as well."
"…" Zastin swallowed a nervous gulp, considering all that he had heard from the first king. 'Guide him to his fate…' The voice of King Davo reminded him.
"The great war… this must've been an attack by the enemies of Deviluke."
"What are you talking about?" Gid muttered.
"Um… you know, when I picked you up at the orphanage… I saw hoofprints."
"Hoof prints? What hoof prints?" Gid asked, head snapping to Zastin.
"I saw hoof prints… gathering outside the gates of the orphanage…" Zastin said. "It could've been attacked."
"But who would burn an orphanage to the ground…?" Zastin asked aloud, when suddenly, his eyes widened in realisation. 'The war… enemies… of course!' The boy made the connections in his head.
"The great war… this could've been an enemy attack." The nine-year-old child added convincingly. "We need to do something." He stated, more determinedly at Gid, who looked at the heterochromic boy with interest.
"Where is all this coming from, Zastin?" Gid asked suspiciously.
"N-Nowhere! I just… I guess I just blame the war for all this…" Zastin replied honestly, saddened.
"... Then we will stop it."
"Eh?" The grey haired child turned to him. "Stop what?"
"The war! We'll find a way to stop it." The red eyed child suddenly said, leaping from his seat and stood atop of the boulder. "We'll travel to Plant Deviluke, and make the war stop!" He said with a childlike determination.
"B-But we are children, we're powerless. Besides, isn't that what our king is supposed to do now?-"
"-Then I will become king!" Gid interrupted. "I will become king and grow strong enough to end this war!" Gid exclaimed, crimson eyes eyeing the skies.
Zastin looked up to the trident tailed Devil in an awe inspired fashion, a hidden smile of success lingering behind his face.
"Sounds like a plan." The children smiled.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: BEEN A WHILE, BUT I FINALLY COMPLETED THE THIRD CHAPTER.
THIS CHAPTER DENOTES THE END OF THE FIRST ARC. THE COMING OF AGE ARC BEGINS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.
LORE FACT #1: THE APPLE OF EDEN SENT AWAY EVENTUALLY ARRIVED ON EARTH.
BUT WHAT DID YOU GUYS THINK ABOUT THIS CHAPTER? HOPE I DIDN'T DISAPPOINT :P
AND AS ALWAYS, MORE CHAPTERS STILL TO COME!
REVIEWS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED AND LOVED!
CRITICISMS ARE ALSO ACCEPTED.