“Dummies.” A small boy mutters, kicking an obsidian rose petal which fluttered around the rich embroidered carpet of the wide hallway.

The issue at hand for the child is the stupidity of his two elder brothers. Both of whom are, according to him, ‘butt-heads’. Perhaps it was the candied cherry they stuck in his hair that broke the camel’s back. Or, maybe it was the song they wrote about him on the trip here. Although the boy had to admit the second verse was fairly catchy. If it were about anything else but himself, Aryn would have enjoyed singing it with them. Nonetheless here we are with the youngest of the Hyde family doing what he seemingly does best at this age. Vanishing.

And in his opinion the best way to do that is to act like you know where you are going. If you must pick up a tray of food and pretend to be a kitchen-porter to walk past a well-placed maid, then pick up that tray and start shuffling.

And really, who questions young nobility anyways.

Too entitled.

Too unhinged.

Too much trouble. Even if the maids realized the falsehoods, they’d never risk making a fuss.

Safely escaping the maids view, Aryn removes the table cloth from beneath his suit jacket and begins to put down the empty tray at a random door.

But it wasn’t just any random door.

Was it?

No.

So, lets continue.

The door quickly swung open. Aryn hadn’t anticipated any occupants, especially none who would notice his presence. He had lost his defenses instantly in more ways than one.

The child behind the door, continuing to stare at the bizarre boy delivering an empty tray to her bedroom door, eventually begins to smile after a long moment.

“I didn’t think my midnight snaking had gotten so bad that we would be reduced to serving merely scraps for lunch.” The girl ponders aloud while glancing at the gnawed-on bone. “But I like chicken so I don’t particularly mind. And I get it delivered to my door no less! That’s good service.”

Again the girl breaks into a wide grin as if suppressing a laugh that had been long withheld.

Aryn was still having trouble understanding the situation so he picked up on the first thing that came to mind. “Who are you? Is this your room? Then, you live here?”

The girl nodding in confusion begins to respond before another barrage of questions comes flying her direction.

“Isn’t it scary though? I saw demons on the roof when we first got here. And look at that,” Throwing a finger towards one of the various sculptures of colored glass lining the hallway Aryn grows a hardened expression. “What if… you broke it while running around?”

“Won’t they just get another… But, did I break something?” The girl asks tilting her head in confusion with tears brimming near her eyes.

“No… nothing, nothing. It was a hipoethical… Hypoth… Um…” Aryn, flustered glances around for another escape route in the tear-causing line of questioning. “Look at this!”

Plucking this mysterious utensil from his pocket he directs the girls undivided attention towards her own shimmering reflection.

“I’ve been wondering for a while now, why’s it so shiny? Spoons at home are grey… How’d you get them to look like this?”

The princess, peering at the object casually tosses back a reply with a smile. “Someone said that it’s called ‘white’ gold. Someone gave them to us I think.”

“White… Wooah. Like those coins?”

“Coins?” She asks, honestly surprised by the response. She had been excited to teach this new friend something but instantly she had been stumped instead.

“Yeah! Above gold is the ‘white’ gold coin. Its worth like a hundred million gold coins!”

“Is that a lot?”

“It’s so much! Like, you could buy a whole house! Maybe even two!”

“They must be big coins then…”

“No… they… aren’t too big. My mom said they are rare though.” Aryn responds recalling the coin and the explanation his mom had given while she was teaching him money maths. “Hey… You eat with something super rare! That’s so cool! Maybe… Wait why are you crying?”

“I… sorry…” The girl whimpers through sobs and a huff. “My mom, she …”

“Come on!” Without waiting a moment for the girl to catch her breath Aryn grips her balled fist and pulls her out of the doorway into the hallway.

Again watching his flanks carefully Aryn leads the princess away from the royal quarters careful to avoid the occasional guard or more dangerously, the maids and butlers.

“Where are we going?” The girl asks through a sniffle while wiping her nose with a cuff.

“On an adventure!” Aryn exclaims after glancing around to assure that the coast was clear. “I wanted to cry earlier, so I decided to go on an adventure instead! That’s how I met you! It always works I promise!”

“Adventure…” The girl mutters, now rubbing her eyes carefully with the same frilled black wrist-strap.

“Yeah! Dad says men don’t cry. And then another time he told me that men go on adventures and explore! Also, my mom told me that crying just makes the people you care about sad, ‘somehow’, so it’s not good. With all that in mind, obviously that means the only option when you are sad is adventure.” Aryn outlines with a brimming grin. This was one of his few ideologies that he believed in strongly. And the proof is in the pudding. From sadness to smiling in a few dozen steps. The wonders of adventuring!

Now to bring it all home.

“So, when you feel sad. Just stand up and remind yourself. Be a man! Be strong. Crying is not allowed!”

A long moment passes with the girl looking at Aryn’s content grin. Eventually bursting into tears of laughter. Aryn’s mom never mentioned laughing tears, those are probably fine?

“But I’m a girl.” She eventually mutters through short chuckles. Spinning in her black dress as proof, Aryn continues looking at her in utter incomprehension.

“What’s that got to do with anything? Being a man is about being brave! Being strong, being loyal, being helpful. Stiffening your lip when you face sadness. It’s got nothing to do with how ya’ pee.”

Again an explosion of laughter comes from the princess. “You said ‘pee’… ”

As the girl continues laughing Aryn begins growing redder and redder in the cheeks. ‘What’s wrong with saying pee?’ he wanted to ask, but he felt like it would only be digging a deeper hole for himself.

“Follow me. I know where we can find tons of cool stuff! It will be your best adventure yet. So you won’t…” The girl mutters the final words under her breath, and when prompted to repeat them, she adamantly refused.

Not that it would matter anyway. He wouldn’t forget her even if he tried.

The place the two ended up was a terrifying place to adventure. But after such a strong speech, Aryn had no room to wiggle out of this now.

The moment the two set foot in the massive room Aryn felt as if thousands of powerful eyes were on him, but it was very clear that the room was empty. The floor was cold and, apart from the candle the girl had readied, it was nearly pitch black.

The only light was the flicker of the flame reflected in a large glass orb in the distance.

As the two stepped ever deeper into the room Aryn found himself transfixed by the roughly shaped sphere. Ignoring the gold and steel thrones seated above the orb, Aryn himself began to step first.

He would have continued too. It had turned to a fixation, but a single word pulled him out of his attentive trance.

“Lotillianne.” The girl says pausing a step behind the blank faced Aryn. “You asked me my name earlier, it’s Lotillianne Wolfbourne. But just call me Lotil; if you want.”

Still facing the orb and half shrouded in the darkness of the empty throne-room Aryn slowly came back to his sense. “Lotil! It’s nice to meet-cha. I’m Aryn, I hope we can become friends!”

“Mhm.” Lotil nods rocking her wispy platinum ponytail with a grin. Then Lotil chose to be selfish for a moment. Just a moment. It’s only fair. She would ‘live her life as she ought from now on’, but just this once, she did something for herself.

Regripping Aryn’s hand and fishing for the other one carefully, Lotil rises to her toes to plant a single kiss on the blushing cheek across from her. It was only fair to reward the boy… man, who was the first to console her after her mother’s death. The first person to even attempt to make her laugh.

“…” Still stunned by the sudden turn of events, Aryn failed to register the sound of an opening door behind them. Lotil too, with heart thumping a mile a minute could barely hear over the cacophony.

“So I hear you went missing and I find you playing house in the throne room.” A booming voice tuts, filling the massive room with sound.

The boy had truly never felt more fear in his life.

That is, until now.

I really can’t imagine what prompted that memory to come back to me during such an important event. Well I can, but nonetheless its not the time for rehashing past embarrassment. Am I doomed to think of my first ‘kiss’ every time I see a massive glass orb? Admittedly its not a common occurrence but it still seems like a negative in the long run.

“Next please.” A researcher running the final test commands after the teen standing before the ‘kingdom heart’ finishes his attempt.

Kosgroph, who I learned was named Winston, stepped up ahead of me placing a hand carefully upon the stone. Again a dull grey light began to shimmer rhythmically from the heart.

“Knock it off!” A shout, from the panel of judges, rumbles forcing Winston to leap in place.

We had been strictly warned. Did you honestly expect to get away with that? A latent magic test means no channeling. I’m a complete novice and even I know how to detect a cheat.

Mana should flow in pulses. With a rate equal to that of a beating heart, not like a flickering flame. If you are going to cheat at least do it right. If you are going to cheat at least do some research.

Amazingly they gave him a second chance. And from the looks of the expressions around me, his second attempt was no better. There was a lot of braggadocious talk during the earlier tests, I believe his words in the dormitory this morning were ‘this job is as good as mine, you all may as well head home.’

Now I’m wondering, who is it that really doesn’t belong here?

My smugness aside, now it’s my turn to step up.

I won’t claim my knees weren’t quaking, I won’t claim I wasn’t reigning in my heartbeat. Because I was, and they were.

I honestly don’t know if it was in my mind or if someone said it aloud but somewhere I heard the words, ‘Be a man.’

How many times will I remember that lost memory today? I repressed that for a reason damnit!

Lifting my hand and stepping forward I instantly shutter once I set foot on the raised pedestal. Before my palm could even reach this glass egg it was already meekly sparkling as if to invite me further. At this point the world around may has well have vanished, my attention wouldn’t shift even if the world was on fire. As the gap became millimeters my well-trained flight response began to kick in but velocity was against it.

As my palm lands on the stone, my head is filled with words in hundreds of languages I can’t understand, and from sources I don’t recognize, half sound right but the rest is shouting gibberish. It’s furious with me.

I feel pain.

The orb, which should—by material nature—be cold, is burning hot. I want to remove my hand. I want to let go. I want to fall backwards away from this cliff. But I can’t even imagine how to move my muscles anymore.

Is this what all of them went through? How were they so calm? Am I in over my head?

No, it’s different. I won’t fail.

I won’t fall to some glorified marble.

…

Or so I say.

But the next thing I know, I’m being sucked backwards. It almost feels as if my body is passing through a funnel.

And then I’m looking at my hand, with nothing but silence in that familiar room. Shaking the past moment out of my head physically, I realize I’m being supported from behind.

I collapsed?

Seriously?

I assume that’s a failure? It explains the silence.

Righting myself carefully I finally get a grasp on who was supporting me. No, not Lotil. If only.

“You’re… Roc Sul?”

“Ts!”

“…?”

“Tsul!”

“Tsul.” I copy nodding with widened eyes.

“Oy, relax Roc, you’re just running low on mana.” The king mutters, nonchalantly stepping up to the two of us with seemingly no regard to the crowd. “Take a deep breath. Don’t get mad at the kid for something we forced on him.”

“What’s…” I begin to ask, glancing around for perhaps some back up about the humanity of that test. But I found none. And by none I mean the crowd that should be here, isn’t.

“The testing is finished.” Roc explains after doing as King Wolfbourne instructed. “To put it simply. Today never happened. The position was filled.”

“…” Glancing between the royal mage and King I couldn’t help but stifle a frown. “Can you… put it complicatedly?”

“What is it you most desire?” Roc asks after tapping his staff impatiently without regarding my comment.

“Desire?” That’s an interesting line of questioning. It’s almost as if I’m going to receive a reward. Desire. The feeling accompanying an unsatisfied state. So, what about ‘unsatisfiable’ states. I can’t imagine they count. Then that means… “I have none.”

I saw Lotil’s face in my mind for a split second as I admitted that fact but again I don’t know if it was my mind playing tricks on me or not. And I’d rather not know.

Roc shakes his head silently beside King Wolfbourne.

“I see.” The king steps forward placing a hand to the sheath of his sword. “Kneel.”

Without question I dropped to a knee as commanded. I doubt I could have resisted even if I wanted.

I hear a blade leave its scabbard then the cold of metal rests on my neck.

“…” Again, a hopefully inaudible gulp.

“Will you follow the commands of the King, no matter what pain or heartache it may cause?”

“Undoubtably.” I affirm with much more eagerness than even I was expecting from myself.

“Again, it’s the truth.” Roc nods with a glance at the reaction of mana on his staff.

As I thought, just how many times is my mind going to be taken over today? How many times is too many? No, better yet, what the fuck is happening?

“Go ahead then.” King Wolfbourne says, returning his sword and stepping aside to make way for an ancient looking man dressed in butler’s uniform.

Honestly, he seems to have come from out of nowhere. A moment ago I was sure the only people here were the two Royal’s, and Roc, the Court mage. Even the guards who were originally posted at the entrance had vanished around the same time as the other candidates.

A ninja?

Or just a typical butler? I’d heard the Capital’s butlers were top class, but I didn’t expect such impressive stealth.

The geezer continued staring at my face for a long moment before clearing his throat into his clenched fist. “I want to apologize first. I don’t know what exactly you felt when touching the heart, but I alone know it’s true unpleasantness. And since it’s my own failure that caused you to experience it, I must sincerely apologize.”

He, alone? So the others didn’t hear the voices? They didn’t feel the heat? What exactly is that orb?

“The hope of the world will now rest on better shoulders. I wish you luck and –Yinos willing– success.”

Bowing to me gingerly, the butler removes a thin chain from beneath his tie and fishes it from under his tunic.

Still in a fit of confusion I reluctantly bow my own head to receive the necklace from the frail man leaning up to me.

“The armory now rests on your shoulders, safeguard it at all costs.”

Nodding carefully in return before fully comprehending the words, I finally began to realize what it was I had become.

The armory bearer -

The one who holds the hero’s sword. The one who safeguards the hero’s vault.

‘If the hero is a blade, then the bearer is the whetstone and scabbard.’

‘Without the sword, the hero faces nothing but rebirth.’