Zoemi was treasuring Miriette above all else but at the same time, he cherished the friendship he and Horeo had. He did not want for the gold-haired boy to start treating him like the kids back in the slums were...
So he told the prince everything that he remembered about that day.
---
After Zoemi finished talking Horeo was shaking with fury and was clenching his fist so hard that his fingernails almost punctured the skin.
"Take off those bandages, please."
His voice was trembling from rage.
"No, my prince, it's nothing, really! No harm befell lady Miriette so everything ended up just fine...!"
Zoemi was trying his best to calm Horeo but the golden-haired boy only raised his hand and Zoemi froze.
"Zoemi, I'm asking you as your friend. Show me what that cumberworld has done to you."
"...!"
Horeo's words made Zoemi flustered - if the black-haired boy knew such a situation would occur he wouldn't have come at all!
Horeo was even using insults that Zoemi did not understand!
If Zoemi knew that the first prince become furious, he would have literally broken his own leg just to have an excuse not to come!
It was nice to think about the what-ifs but in his current situation there was no turning back – Horeo has asked him to show his scars out of concern...
"..."
The black-haired boy sighed with a heavy heart and slowly removed the bandages.
"!!!!!!"
The first prince's eyes narrowed and he partially opened his mouth, staring at the burnt cheek and right ear of his friend...
"Is this what would have happened to Miriette if she was hit...?"
Horeo asked, clenching his trembling fists.
"Most likely, my prince, but as I said! Don't worry! I'm keeping our promise! Your fiancé is safe! See? Only I got hurt!"
Zoemi tried his best, but instead of extinguishing the flames of anger, he added more fuel to them by accident.
"...'only' you...?"
Horeo gritted his teeth so hard that they made an unpleasant sound and...
...something unlocked inside the golden-haired prince...
"I WILL MAKE HIM PAY!"
The first prince roared and a pillar of blinding golden light erupted from his body, flooding the room with such powerful magic that the air quaked from the unbelievable amount of released mana, that made Zoemi fall on his butt and stare at him in shock.
"My prince, we must evacu...! DEAR HEAVENS!"
The knight guarding the door felt the terrifying disturbance and rushed through the door.
"Wha...?! AHA!"
Not knowing what was going on - he assumed that the prince was being harmed and the perpetrator was the boy on the floor in front of him.
"You! What have you done to the first prince!?"
The knight screamed and pulled out his sword at the back-haired child.
...which turned out to be the worst mistake of his life...
"YOU DARE TO TRY AND HURT MY FRIEND RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!?"
Horeo's voice augmented with magic could be heard in the whole city surrounding the castle.
"BEGONE!"
The golden first prince pointed his hand towards the knight and a beam of blinding golden light shoot out of his open palm.
---
It was the epitome of the light attribute, near-instantaneous attack of an overwhelming might!
When the light collided with the knight, the poor man flew through the room and out the door so fast that it looked like he teleported and ended up embedded into the wall in a both comical, and utterly horrifying way.
Of course, such a situation couldn't just pass unnoticed.
Within two minutes the royal magician himself together with the king and the King's Guard gathered in front of the room, cautiously peeking through the door to the prince's room.
"Lazaram, what does this mean? What's happening to my son!?"
The king was furious but seeing what has happened to one of the knights who was currently being extracted from the wall with not a single bone unbroken in his body - he didn't risk entering the chamber himself.
"This is amazing, my king!
Yet instead of panicking, the royal magician, Lazaram, was overjoyed.
"Don't you see, my king!? It's the awakening! Prince Horeo awakened to the light attribute, and an unbelievably strong one at that!"
The royal magician cheered out in excitement.
"Are you serious!?"
The king's worried expression changed into a smile.
"Of course, my king. I have told you that prince Horeo's awakening could happen at any time, right? It may be the most violent awakening I have ever seen, but the first prince will soon return to his senses and be able to use magic, I assure you!"
Lord Lazaram declared while poking his head through the door, observing everything that was happening in the room flooded by the golden light.
"Then, just in case, maybe we should try to take that child from there?"
The king spoke with worry, seeing the black-haired child so near the powerful magic eruption his son was causing.
"If I remember correctly it's the boy that helped to save Miriette, Horeo became friends with him, if he hurt him by accident then it could..."
"My king, that boy!"
A thrilled royal magician grabbed the king's shoulder and shook him, interrupting his words.
"What? Did Horeo hurt him after all!?"
The king gasped in worry.
"No, look at the boy's shadow! He is also going through awakening!"
---
Zoemi could see only the golden brightness of Horeo's magic.
This light reminded him about the one he remembered from that dream.. that memory, but was a lot more gentle and far more comforting than the one he was surrounded by back then.
It was almost...
Soothing.
But even so, Zoemi was carefully observing Horeo with anxiety - even though he couldn't possibly do much if something bad would start happening the black-haired boy was ready to at least run for help.
Thankfully, after a few minutes, the golden-haired prince looked like he was beginning to calm down.
Horeo was still emitting the pillar of light and his body was glowing gold with the light magic enchantment, but the boy's expression was becoming gentler with each passing second.
Huh, who would have known, I ended up triggering the first prince's awakening!|
Zoemi thought to himself in awe - in the game it was never stated when and how the prince's power first surfaced, only that he was a late bloomer.
Now that I think about it, my body feels kind of weird...|
Once the fear about the prince's wellbeing subsided as it seemed like everything will be fine, Zoemi furrowed his brows and touched his chest.
One uneasy feeling got replaced by another.
What is going on...?|
The black-haired boy thought to himself and looked down...
"What the...?!"
He gasped out loud once he realized that as he is sitting down, his body had been casting the darkest shadow he had ever seen.
Usually having a shadow would be normal, of course, but not the one as dark as his, not to mention that the prince's magic-filled every square inch of the room with no exception, and every other shadow except for Zoemi's had disappeared.
Not only that...
Zoemi's shadow was so dark that it looked like there was an empty space underneath the black-haired boy – eerily similar to a void of some sort.
"!!!!"
And very shadow enlarged and spread until it grew a few times larger than Zoemi himself!
At the same time in the black-haired boy's body, something has changed...
Zoemi's insides started feeling weird... as if they were shifting and making space for a brand new organ that suddenly sprouted out of nowhere, and started pumping something other than blood through the black-haired boy's veins.
"Uuugh...! Aaaaughhh...!
The boy cried out in pain and clenched his torso, laying on the floor in pain while his shadow trembled and started growing even more - devouring the light emitted from the prince...!
At the same time, the weird new organ started enlarging more and more and Zoemi felt like it was slowly crushing his other internal organs that had no more place to go...!
"N- noo...!"
He groaned, sucking up the light-element-mana-filled air, clawing at his torso in agony.
"Too much! That's too much! It's cru-crushing meee...!"
The pain was too much and the boy cried out clenching his teeth as his body arched on the floor.
"...ah...!"
Finally, when Zoemi thought that everything was over, his shadow disappeared and light once more enveloped the room.
Oh, thank god...!|
The black-haired boy didn't faint through all that suffering, but he couldn't move his body at all.
"Zoemi...!"
Seeing his friend in such a state Horeo finally regained his control over his body and forced his mana to stop leaking outside freely.
"Zoemi, are you alright!?"
The gold-haired prince kneeled by the black-haired boy and grabbed his hand.
"I'm not sure... I'm just so... Full..."
Zoemi breathed out, having trouble speaking.
"Y-you're full? Of what?"
The prince furrowed his brows and looked at his friend, sick with worry.
"I-I don't know, it just feels so weird..."
---
"It's should be safe to enter now, let's go."
Seeing that the situation resolved itself just like the royal magician waved his hand and the grownups entered the room and started helping the children.
On that day the first prince Horeo awakened to the light attribute and Zoemi had his first encounter with the darkness attribute.