Chapter 5:The Statue:
Pastoria was walking through the a Great Library inside the Emerald City admiring the paintings that hung from the walls and the vast amount of books that sat in neat rows on the large shelves. However of all the many books and beautiful paintings one particular painting intrigued him the most. It was the painting of himself, his brother Syrus, his mother Ozette, and his father Ozroar as well as Galore. Each time he saw the painting he was reminded of the pain that dwelt within his heart because of the confrontation with his brother.
"Oh why should I be unhappy?! I have a caring family that loves me and a kingdom that adores me," Pastoria thought to himself. Turning away from the painting he marched briskly out of the library. As he continued walking through the halls of the palace he made his way to the exit. As he passed through the door he turned in the direction of the city plaza. He continued to the center of the plaza and stopped before the great statue of his father King Ozroar.
"Father I don't know if you can hear me but I need your guidance. I feel as if I am doing something wrong but I don't understand what it is," Pastoria said. Pastoria remained standing and ran his hand along the strong face of Ozroar. All of a sudden he was hit by a flashback from his past as a child. The vision brought him to a time in which Pastoria was four years old and Syrus was seven years. Next to them was Galore who was five years old. The three children were seated on the floor of their bedroom and Ozroar and Ozette were sitting on the bed.
"Tell us a story Father," Pastoria said.
"Oh alright then you have to go to bed as soon as I'm finished," Ozroar said.
"Yes Father," Syrus replied.
"There were once two kings. One king was a greedy and selfish being who terrorized the kingdom. The other was a king who was the exact opposite of this. The greedy king called himself the Gnome King while the selfless king called himself Ozroar. One day the Gnome King attacked the kingdom with his army and stole all of its jewels and riches. King Ozroar was not expecting this but he didn't give up on his people and so he raised an army and challenged the Gnome King on behalf of the kingdom. The Gnome King was defeated and his army as well as him were imprisoned underground with only one entrance in or out. All of the wealth the people possessed was returned to them and Ozroar built a shining city out of emeralds protecting what was left of the kingdom's riches and concealing the greatest treasure in all of Oz there as well. With the Gnome King being defeated Ozroar married a beautiful woman who became his queen and changed her name to Ozette in honor of her new kingdom and husband. Eventually the king and queen had two handsome princes named Syrus and Pastoria as well as a beautiful daughter named Galore and they all lived happily ever after. Now the lesson I hope to teach to both of you is when you have children of your own be there for them no matter what the cost is for they need to be loved by their parents," Ozroar concluded. Suddenly Pastoria was pulled back into the realm of reality and found himself facing the statue once again.
"Thank you Father. I now realize that I need to be there for my children more than I have," Pastoria said to the statue. As he turned to leave he was startled by Lurline standing behind him watching what he is doing in apparent curiosity.
"He has a strong face doesn't he," Lurline said coming forward to the statue laying her hand on it.
"Indeed Lurline he was a much stronger and wiser king than I ever will be myself. I wish you had met him," Pastoria said.
"Me too Pastoria. Me too. I imagine he was also a better father to you and your brother than mine was to my siblings and I," Lurline said.
"Oh," Pastoria said his turn to be curious.
"Yes well I shouldn't have said that. I know what is on your mind Pastoria. I just want you to be happy and dwelling on the horrors of your past is making it difficult," Lurline said.
"You're right Lurline. I promise you I will not display anymore of these painful emotions to you. You have my word. Besides we have a family of our own now and we need to be better parents. Come now let's see what the children are up to," Pastoria said. With this last statement Lurline smiled and grabbed Pastoria's hand with joy and the two walked back into the Emerald City.