Disclaimer: Anything that might have come from the movies or any books I obviously didn't have anything to do with, but if you didn't already see it or read it, then it was all mine. Now that I've recovered all my bases, let's get back to the story.
"What do you mean mother," asked a stunned Riddick to an unsuspecting Jaden?
"Precisely what I said, mother. She is the late Queen of Xion, Loranna." Jaden merely gave Riddick a look of pure distain and loathing for his arrogance and ignorance.
"Correction, oh young and naïve one, she is my mother. And I don't know where you're getting this 'late Queen of Xion' bullshit, because she happens to be my mother, the last Queen of Furya, at least until I take a wife." Riddick returned the glare from Jaden and gave Zoë a hopeful look.
"Boys! There will be absolutely no fighting between the two of you while I'm here. Is that understood?"
They bowed there heads as a sign of submission. Being their mother meant that if she gave an order, and they accepted either willingly, as both Riddick and Jaden had done with that simple bow of the head, or reluctantly, they were honor bound to carry out that order to it's completion.
"Now that you two won't be arguing anymore, this should go far more smoothly.
"You are both correct. I was the Queen of Furya and Richard was the last Prince to be born on Furya. I am, and always will be, Richard's mother. I am so sorry that you thought I had died. If I thought for a moment that I was going to survive that wound, I would have kept you close to me. Maybe if I had, you would have grown up with me for a little while longer, and then you wouldn't have had to live the life you've led.
"But, I am, and always will be Jaden's mother as well. After I was saved, I was taken to Xion and there I met and fell in love with his father. It may not have been the kind of love that I held for your father Richard, but it was love nonetheless.
"I married Jaden's father and had him about two years after the attack on Furya. Jaden is your younger, half brother."
"Which makes me the last Prince of Furya and destined to be with Zoë, the Angel Borne," chimed in Jaden in too knowing of a tone, that didn't suit him in the least.
"While it does make you a Furian Prince, you are unable to claim any inheritance or real rights since you are only half Furian."
"But you used to tell me how I'd one day rule…"
"Jaden, please calm down? Because Richard is alive, older, and full blooded Furian, he gains all of the inheritance of the Kingdom. The only way you could even give a servant in the castle an order is if Richard were to give you permission to do so.
"But, Zoë, you were meant to be the next Queen of Furya whether or not you had meant either one of my sons, even if you didn't have a drop of royal blood in your veins, simply because of your angel blood."
"Why?"
"Because," Riddick decided that now would be the time to break his silence and remind everyone else in the room that he was there, and that he knew at least the oldest legend in the Furian history, "while angels are made by the droves on a daily basis, there is only one born once in every generation.
"Those of the Furian Royal House who are lucky enough to be born in that generation, under the same moon as the angel born, whether right then or just a different year with the same moon over head, are gifted with and Angel Borne for a counterpart. A soul mate.
"I was the one in the family who was born under that moon, the same one you were born under three years later, the Furian Moon. All Angel Bornes are only born under this moon, since they are meant for Furians alone, and are therefore granted full Furian blood. Because we are soul mates, destined to find each other, we fell in love so fast and hard on my ship.
"I wanted to tell you all about myself, but I didn't want you to only want to be with me because I was the Prince you were looking for. I wanted to know that you wanted me for me, even with all of my faults. Please don't be angry with me for not telling you?"
"I could never be angry with you. But I wasn't even born on Furya, so how could I have been born under the Furian Moon and be destined for the Furian Crown?"
"Angel Bornes are never born on Furya. It's a sort of test for them to be born on another planet. The Prince or Princess destined for the angel must go in search of said angel and find them before they can be with them.
"Once the angel has been found, the royal must complete a task set by the parents, in your case your father, which proves their determination and loyalty to the Angel Borne," stated Loranna.
"What happens if you don't complete the task?"
"Don't worry about that. I'll do anything to make sure I get to be with you."
A grin spread across both their faces and a slight blush crept up over her face. But just as quickly as the blush started, she paled.
"But what if my father assigns you a task that you can't complete?" Zoë knew her father would never see Riddick for anything other than another convict, just another piece of garbage that shouldn't be associated with anything decent, so he would most likely assign Riddick a task that would be too complicated, or underhanded, for him to be able to complete.
"If your father manages to find something that I either can't or won't do to get you in my life forever, than I probably don't deserve you anyways. I'll do anything, kill, steal… anything. I want you in my life, no matter what it takes."
"Richard, there are limits to what you are allowed to do in order to get her. You can do nothing illegal, nothing that could harm anyone else, and you must conduct yourself in the most respectable manner possible while in her father's presence when he gives you the task, if he gives you one.
"Further more, you have to realize that the king does not have to give you a task, if he does not feel that you are worthy of his daughter. There have been many of our royalty that did not get their angel. You cannot force him to give you one, no matter how badly you want her. Do you understand me?"
Riddick very grudgingly acknowledged his mother as he pulled Zoë into his arms even more possessively than he had her before. He wasn't even going to entertain the idea that he could still end up losing Zoë even though he had it made to the planet before the wedding, and she was destined for him.
Riddick made to leave the room with Zoë in his arms bridal style when someone with a death wish attempted to pull him back towards the bed.
"And just where do you think you are going with the princess?" Jaden didn't care that Riddick could very easily snap him in two, and probably wouldn't even break a sweat doing so. This man was trying to make off with his bride to be, even though more than likely she would be given to his now older half brother because he was the one destined for her and not him. He couldn't allow anything to happen between them right now, especially if there was a slime chance that he could still end up with her.
"Until her father releases her from our engagement, she is still my fiancée, and I would appreciate it if you unhanded her."
"Fine, but if I can't be alone with her, than there ain't no fucking way I'm going to let you stay in here alone with her. She may be your fiancée, but that's all going to change once I complete whatever task her father sets and he releases her from this farce of an engagement.
"You can come with me. That way I know you aren't sneaking around in here, and you know that I'm staying away, for now. Anyways, I'm feeling the need to get to know my little brother. We have an entire lifetime of events to recap on." And I'll need to know as much about my enemy as I can find out, otherwise I won't have the kind of ammunition that I'm going to need to get him to break their engagement should her father decide to not give me a chance to prove my worth.
So, for the rest of the night both of the boys spent it in Riddick's room on his ship, Jaden on the bed, Riddick on the rather large sofa across the room, neither one willing to be the first to start talking, and neither able to fall asleep. They sat there, watching each other, showing no signs of weakness to the other one.
Eventually, both boys passed out from sheer exhaustion, and the whole reverse psychology thing. You know what I mean, when you try with everything in your being to stay awake, and you end up passing out almost instantly. That's what happened to them.
Now, Riddick had the usual dream you read in this type of story. The one where everything is finally coming together in his life, and now that he finally has the love of his life in his life, underneath his body, and screaming out his name in pure passion, nothing in the world could possibly touch him. So, needless to say, he was getting himself plenty in his dream.
Jaden was the one who had the life changing dream.
He was walking, using the term loosely, through a dense, luscious green forest, maybe even a jungle. It was pitch black but for the clear night's stars and jade green crescent moon hanging overhead.
He was walking along what appeared to be a heavily used trail, but had no idea where he was going. He continued to follow the path for a time, hoping that there was an ending coming up soon, when he heard strange noises coming from off in the distance in the direction he was heading.
As he neared the sounds he could make out what sounded like groans and aggressive moans; the sounds of battle.
Jaden made it to the last remaining obstacle of jungle and realized that he had his father's longsword at his side. He unsheathed it and hacked his way through the last remaining blockade.
He emerged from his jungle cave to find himself outside the shrine behind the castle. There, within the shrine, were the causes of the sounds.
A White Tiger was standing in the shrine fighting, using all techniques, hand to hand, swords, and magiks, against an Artic Wolf. And further back into the shrine there appeared to be a Snow Leopard talking and tending to a wound of a beautiful White Horse.
As Jaden watched the scene unfold, the Tiger dealt a serious blow to the Wolf which knocked the Wolf out of the ring, eliminating the wolf from the fight. Without hesitation, the Tiger knelt down over the Wolf to heal the bruises that were beginning to form. Once that was taken care of, the Tiger helped the Wolf up off the ground and over next to the Horse.
The moment both the White Tiger and the Snow Leopard were rested enough from their previous fights and healing sessions, they entered the ring together. The air temperature dropped twenty degrees and picked up enough speed around them to make it appear that they were standing in the vortex of a tornado.
Jaden had been standing at the outskirts of the ring during all of this and had been caught up in the ever increasing whirlwinds. Because of this, he couldn't watch the entire fight between the Tiger and Leopard. He did however manage to catch glimpses of the fight.
He was spun in every conceivable and inconceivable direction while the pair fought. He was up in the air for what felt like days to his flipping brain cells, but it was really only about a half hour. Have you ever wondered what an egg feels like when it's being scrambled? Try to imagine that, then multiply by twenty, and you're getting close.
At one point he saw the Tiger in a winning position and hoped that it would mean a quick end to all of his suffering, but then on his next rotation facing the direction of the fight, the Leopard would be in the commanding position. It traded off like that for the entirety of the fight, until Jaden suddenly felt the earth sneak up on his ass, with a rather hard thud. He looked up only to see the tall form the Leopard standing in front of him waiting for… something.
Jaden was terrified and confused. Rational thought was well beyond the realm of possibility, which would explain why he just began to ask the Snow Leopard questions as if it would understand or answer.
"What's going on? What happened to the White Tiger? What is this place and how do I leave?"
The Leopard didn't answer, of course, but it did nod it's head over in the direction of the group that was watching the entire scene. There, standing where the Horse had been, was his mother, looking as beautiful as the day she married his father, from what the wedding photos had depicted.
"Jaden," said Loranna as she ventured to the edge of the ring, but no further, "this is an ancient Furian ritual that you have just intruded upon. Richard and Zoë invoked it to see who would be the stronger in their marriage, and therefore better capable to rule Furya, once they've been joined.
"By coming here, you've entered yourself in the running and must fight the current champion to be allowed to leave. The Snow Leopard will be your opponent, and should you win, you will achieve your dreams of attaining Zoë as your queen and the rule of Furya."
"But who am I fighting?" Jaden was overwhelmed, even more confused, and really just ready to wake up.
"The only way to find out is after the fight is won," stated the newly transformed Avalon. "It's just as likely that you're fighting Zoë as you are fighting Riddick. Because of the ritual, neither of them is able to transform back to their human forms until a victor has been named.
"But, there is an upside to all of this. If you're fighting Zoë, than she has already won her right to be crowned Queen of Furya with Riddick as her king. If so, you're fighting, not only for Riddick's place at Zoë's side, but also her position as the raining ruler of Furya. However, if you win against Riddick you'll attain his crown as King of Furya and you'll have Zoë as your queen.
"But if you lose, you forfeit your claim on Zoë in everyway. If it's Zoë you lose to, she has the right to make the two of you fight for a test strength so she can pick the stronger of you for a mate. If it's Riddick… Well, let's just hope it isn't Riddick."
"But how am I supposed to fight a Snow Leopard the size of a man, with all it's strength, and I'm assuming it has powers from what I saw it doing during the last couple of battles, when I am only human?"
"I'm sorry Jaden. You are at a great disadvantage since you neither inherited my powers nor an animal form from your father since he's not Furian, but you're not completely defenseless. You brought your father's longsword here with you, and you'll be allowed to use it when you want. Good luck."
"I don't need luck. I need a fucking miracle."
As Jaden turned to face his opponent, he caught the unmistakable glare of a cold, calculating, enraged, and enlightened animal. Hope welled deep within him that maybe he was fighting against Zoë. It was very possible that this would be the only way he'd ever get her to fight him without holding back like he had hoped for when they were on the ship together.
They started off with hand-to-paw combat, testing each other's strength. When they realized they were evenly matched, the swords were drawn.
The Leopard unsheathed Aries, the Furian Sword of Strength and Power, named after the old Earth Greek God of War. It was a beautifully crafted blade that looked as though it were crafted of frozen black and silver fire. The hilt was sterling silver and black onyx, entwined, with three stones embedded at the ends. In the top two ends lay a black diamond and blue sapphire, while a white sapphire was set in the bottom end of the sword.
Jaden's sword, on the other hand, was like any other king's sword. The normal polished iron, double-edged blade, gold cord encircling a black iron hilt, and jewels of common variety for kings, emeralds, rubies, and overly polished turquoises pretending to be sapphires, adorning the hilt. On Xion it would have stood out as being the most magnificent sword on the planet, but it couldn't compare to the sword the Leopard carried.
The only one out of the three possible fighters who had any formal training with a sword was Jaden, but that wasn't to say that neither of the other two couldn't wield a sword if they wanted to, they just wouldn't be as skilled as Jaden would be. But the wielder of Aries would automatically be gifted with near perfection swordsmanship. Near perfection meant that Jaden had time to be able to deflect some blows, dodge others, and even send a few blows at the Leopard himself. Both were hit by the other's sword, but more hits were blocked than taken on both accounts.
It began to appear that it would be a tie, that there would be two equal rulers, and that Zoë could possibly be shared in marriage to these two. But, from the depths of it's being, the Snow Leopard tapped into its true strength and landed the victorious blow to Jaden.
The moment Jaden hit the ground he knew it was all over. He felt his body give up completely and his mind go blank. He was numb, but sore all over.
He looked over at the White Tiger just in time to see the white fur transform into a white silk, strapless, form-fitting, full, flowing gown. Her hair was done in high swept curls, held up with angel wings and tiny shivs, with glitter and baby's breathe throughout her golden locks. And just laying on top of her head was a simple tiara with a single teardrop diamond hanging down to the middle of her forehead. Jaden could think of only one word to describe her, "Breath-taking."
Then he realized that he had just been fighting his older, half brother, a convicted murderer, for his chosen mate and title, and lost. The fear began to drip off of him in the form of sweat.
Riddick walked over to Jaden, reached down to pull him up, and helped him right himself.
Jaden attempted to put on a brave front in the face of his soon to be killer, but his terrified back was doing a damned good job of giving him away.
"I believe you have something to say," stated Riddick in his own little tone that could still any man's blood.
Jaden's mind went blank again for the briefest of moments, but long enough to make Riddick believe he was attempting to back out of his part of the agreement.
"You have fought in this most sacred and honored of Furian ceremonies, lost, and yet you still attempt to lay a claim on my mate!"
"No! My mind went completely blank after that last punch of yours. I hold true to the Furian customs, new and old, and under the rules of the fight, I release Zoë from her marital bonds."
A true smile spread over Riddick's features as Zoë ran into his open arms. He held her as close to his body as he could and buried his face in the crook of her neck to completely immerse himself in her scent.
"Thank you, brother."
Jaden looked up from admiring Zoë to see Riddick standing over him again.
"What for?" He tried not to sound sore about everything, but that's not how it came out.
"For honoring your part and releasing her to me. You've made our Wedding Ceremony worth that much more."
"Wedding Ceremony? That's what this was?"
"Yes. This was the Ancient Royal Wedding Ceremony. It's only invoked one a generation, and only by those destined for an angel."
"Well, then I guess, you're welcome." With that, Jaden turned towards the jungle to leave, hoping that he could find his way out the way he had come. He had just lost the only woman he ever had the chance to fall in love with to a brother he had only just met.
As he made it back to the edge of the jungle, which he would have sworn was much closer when he first arrived, down floated Zoë, in all of her angel glory. If he had thought the sight of her in all white was breath-taking, he was blind in comparison. She still looked the same, but with her wings at full spread to bring her to a safe landing; it made her entire body glow instead of just her face.
"Jaden, I need to tell you a few things before you leave. First, thank you from the bottom of my heart for releasing me from the marital bonds, even though I know you didn't want to. It will confuse my father when we tell him in the morning, but so long as you tell him that you aren't being threatened or anything like that, he should accept it as the truth and allow me to live the life I've chosen.
"Second, I am extending an invitation on behalf of Riddick and myself for you to come to Furya when we go, that way when we are crowned as King and Queen of Furya, you can be crowned Prince of Furya. This way you'll be part of the family in a formal way, and should anything happen to Riddick before we have a child, there will be a king in waiting. I know it's not quite what you were hoping for, but at least no one will be able to deny you your rights if the King himself bestow them on you before anything could happen, and you'll be able to be there to be apart of your own family, and maybe even help us rule for a time while everything gets settled.
"All of this Riddick and myself discussed before everything happened as far as battles went. I knew you'd be drug here in your dreams because you would be considered a contender for my heart, and this is also a way to help a young maiden chose between possible mates.
"But, because of the way you fought and how well you did in there, I'm gifting you with something even more special than what it is that I have already offered you."
She leaned in towards Jaden and gave him a kiss on the lips. It was nothing passionate, long, or drawn out, just a simple feather touch of her lips to his.
A/N: Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. I know this chapter was incredibly long, but it was needed. I also wanted to warn everyone who is reading this story that I'm going to be working on my other story for a while, so expect a longer delay in updates for this story.