The doors opened to a majestic hallway leading to the throne room, with the walls holding beautiful tapestries, showing magical places. Armors of all shapes and sizes adjourned the walls as well, with some fearful and imposing, while others looked majestic and masterfully crafted.
With the king and queen leading us, we soon made it to two beautifully adorned doors that soon opened for us on their own, with guards standing on both sides, standing at attention. The whole process was their to give guests a sense of power that the King wields, and the wealth that he has amassed. Of course this was useless on me, as on earth, even without mana, there are plenty of structures that put this palace to shame.
The king and queen soon sat in there respective thrones with Alice, and the two old men standing to the side. With Ed suddenly kneeling, both John and me followed his actions and knelt to the ground as well, though with the hard flooring I has already starting to feel uncomfortable.
The king raised his hand, "Raise Sir Edward, as you have done me and my people a great service. Me for finding my beloved daughter, and the people, for finding the hero." He smiles "For this act, I will gift you with one weapon from the vault"
Ed bows more deeply "Thank you, your majesty, I am undeserving of such an honor, but will graciously accept it."
The way that Ed was smiling, I could tell that getting a weapon from the vault was a great honor for him, but if Ed is getting that much, then what will John and me get?
The king then directed his attention to us, and I could feel his gaze piercing both mine and John's bodies. "Now I recognize the hero as he is the spitting image of his father, but who are you?" the kings soft gaze hardens when it lands on me.
"father if I may?" Alice speaks up.
He nods, and with that she explained the strange circumstance of my being here, and how I have physically changed, as well as my awakening as a mage. The shocked expressions on the king and queens face, as well as the mysterious old man, further emphasized just how unbelievable my being here is.
old man in the blue robe sputtered, "that is impossible, for centuries mages have tried to break the barrier between worlds, and none have managed it. The person who claims to be the heroes friend must be a demon spy!"
The king glowers at the man, "Are you saying that my daughter made a mistake? Chancellor, I respect your wisdom and power, but you should choose your next words more carefully if you speak ill of the royal family again, it is only because of the severity of the times that I do not have you punished."
The chancellor starts to sweat profoundly in fear and stumbles an apology to the princess. the king nods and continues. "You are correct ,however, in how unbelievable it is that someone from earth had made it to Astalon." he looks toward the man in the white robe "What have you to say high priest, have the gods spoke to you of anything of this?"
The high priest sighs, "My apologies your majesties, but the way of the gods is beyond even my understanding. there is no doubt that the gods are at play here, but why they would change their plans at the last minute, they have not said. we can only hope and pray that this earthling is here to aid the hero in his quest." The priest steps back when he finished speaking, but anyone could tell that this situation worried him.
The king accepts the explanation, "now, we have spent much of this time bickering over this new visitor that we have neglected the most important person here." the king rises from his throne and walks to John with a fatherly smile on his face. placing a hand on his shoulder he asks for John to rise." Greetings hero I am George Lamonia, king of Astriam. I know your true name, but may I ask what your earth given name is?"
"It is Jonathan Hunter you majesty, but you can call me John." he gives the king a gracious smile.
"Ha! a fine name for one so great." The king gives a mighty laugh.
John looks embarrassed, which is no small feat, but gets the courage, " If I may ask your majesty, you said you knew my father, but who am I?" There is a hint of pleading in his voice.
The question seems to sober up the king from his laugh, "You my boy, are the only son of Duke Brighton, and Mary Brighton. when you were born, the heavens rejoiced and you were a special child. The dark god Orbis, sensing a threat, sent an army of demons to kill you and hopefully destroy my kingdom." The room suddenly has a dark and depressing undertone.
I had no Idea that when John asked about his birth parents we would suddenly get some exposition, but it is helpful in my understanding of this place. I continue listening in.
"They came in waves and attacked your father's mansion, but the three of you had already fled to the capital. It was here that we fought on, but we were losing, and the demon king himself made an appearance, killing and maiming our best warriors. Until finally the Archmage Elric broke his soul gaining immense power to fight back and injure the demon king." the king takes a deep breath, while the rest wait. "With his soul broken, the Archmage used his last breath to send you to earth, with you gone and the demon king back in his castle recuperating, the demons retreated. Soon we rebuilt, but not without the cost of many lives."
"And what of my parents?" John could not help but ask.
The king shook his head sadly, "they were part of the group that fought the demon lord, and perished in the battle."
I had never seen John look so anguished before, I knew that ever since John learned that he was adopted, that he had always wondered were his birth parents were. he had confided in me about this and always wondered why his parents gave him up. a part of him had always hoped that he would meet them and get the closure to move on in his life.
Now looking at his face, he probably never will. The king seeing this spoke at once, "Although they had perished, they had loved you more than anything in the world." this got John's attention, and the king continued. "When they fled here, they begged me to give them protection for their child. even when my advisers told me to give the child to the demons, their love for you convinced me to help them. Before they left to face the demon king they told me your name."
John looks up to the king, "Now rise great hero, for we need you now more than ever, rise Lewis Brighton!" a massive burst of light fills the throne room, blinding all, before it all settles down.
But towering over John is a figure covered in golden armor. I hear the high priest gasp a name, Alder. which if I remember correctly is the god of light that Alice told us about.
With his visor up, the massive god smiles down at the speechless John, "Hero, you have finally arrived, the time is near for your battle with the demon king. So prepare yourself, grow stronger in your quest and save the world!"
"No"
The word echoed throughout the hall, and shocked everyone, including me, as I had not realized that I was the one who spoke against the god.