The sounds of joyful laughter and conversations all became muddled sounds from a far. The night before, they're village chief had received heart pounding news of the apprehension of the creature that had been terrorizing the village. Without haste, everyone had wasted no time at sunrise to finally come out of finding inside their homes. The unexpected visit of the Bishop had only risen up their spirits as they accepted her extended help to get back on their feet. With the course of events going on, perhaps Jayus had just not gotten over the toll of these happenstances. Unfortunately, he had been proven wrong when the man emerging from the door nearly gave him a heart attack. Dressed in a blue, black and white royal outfit, his skin glowed like glistening sand from underneath. He adorned a stark black hair, and had a few tiny moles to grace his face. He was fairly tall, in comparison to both Hera and Jayus. When he finally took notice of the two other men in front of him, a switch in his eyes flickered in a mere second. Then he glanced at Hera.
"Lord Maganaya," Jayus unconsciously spoke before he lowered his head in greeting. Hera followed suit. It had been quiet, almost as if the fair hadn't been happening just behind them.
"Oh ho?" This man, Lord Maganaya, hummed. "Duke Frasirr, I was expecting you to be here." That answer took Jayus out, dumbfounded, "How come my lord says that?"
Lord Maganaya gave a light laugh, "The river spoke of a tale of a certain fiery duke. So I heard you coming from an ocean away." That response provoked Jayus to bite his lips in retort. Lord Maganaya is known to be the King of all oceans, that's why he was known for everytime he talked, he would always somehow slip in any water related reference in a sentence. Even the Maganaya Kingdom resided at point nemo, if not for the bridge, then there would be no way to get there in the first place.
Hera, on the other hand, had already met this man a decade ago. It had been a couple years prior his coming of age birthday that the King of Maganaya and him had become buddies. Caspian Maganaya. In another life, they both would have waved hello and smiled at each other. In fact, that was what Caspian would have almost done if not for the silently aggressive protest Hera had been signaling him this entire time Jayus wasn't looking. Hera glared so much and made aggressive signals that Caspian had become too afraid to find out what would happen if he were to disobey. But it was too late, he had already raised a hand mid-air. Jayus stared at him in confusion. "Lord Maganaya, is something wrong?"
Caspian, with his deep ocean blue eyes, could only smile awkwardly, ignoring the multiple bullets of sweat on his face "Oh! I-uh... Ahem! Duke, you've never heard of it before? This is how us Maganayans greet each other!" Caspian flung his arm back, not taking into account of the wall behind him and elbowed it. Whether it was there imagination or a flicker of light, Jayus could have sworn the house shook from the impact. "Lord Maganaya, are you sure you're alright? That seemed rather painful." The duke was starting to find this king rather unsettling.
"Don't worry about it, My lord. I've seen other Maganayans do this on purpose. It's more of a culture thing, we wouldn't understand. Even the loud cracking sound you heard made by his bone is just a practice of theirs. Isn't that right, Lord Maganaya?" Hera immediately intervened, his hands holding the duke in place as he smiled at Caspian for affirmation. Caspian, kneeling on the ground like a frog without shelter from the rain, had clutch on his arm as he gasps for breath. Tears started to form in his eyes, "That's right...! Please don't mind me... It's how we enhance our bones."
Jayus raised a brow, "Is that so? Perhaps, I should also try that out myself. I've recently gone in an incident where my arm feels like falling off. I'll try when I have the chance." That response could force Hera to cry out buckets of tears as he silently pleaded to the heavens. Dear god, please watch over this man. He believes everything almost a little too much.
"But may I ask why the King would travel far and wide to this humble village?" Nonetheless, even Hera was curious. Jayus noticed Hera's grip tighten almost immediately but didn't press on the subject. As if glad for the change in course of the conversation, Caspian straightened up, his face glowing in delight as if he was about to tell the story he had told his crew a million times over to the point they got over sea sickness and switched to being sick at Caspian's voice. "Since the tournament to celebrate the new rise of the Empire was cutting close, I thought it would be good to survey the area to see if anything changed. I'm really excited for the tournament!" This man in his late twenties would bounce in the alley like a pinball if he could with how much he was beaming. It can't be helped, the last time Caspian Maganaya travelled outside his realm had been over a decade ago during Heracles Eckleis' 18th birthday for political standing. To hear of what had happened to his dear friend and not being able to do anything deeply hurt him. Now he was even denied the chance to meet like old friends. It made Caspian realize this must be how she felt. It wasn't so funny now that it's happening to him.
"That's right, the tournament will be coming close in a span of two months I think. Will you be participating also?" Jayus asked. At this point, these two had engaged into a full blown conversation which Hera had no clue about. The news of the tournament being held instead of the usual Eckleis tradition had not been made public yet, so Hera could only stand behind them, cluelessly. A tournament? of what sort? Sports perhaps? Was this some kind of noble thing? An inside information in a club exclusive for nobles only? A new organisation? Hera's brain wracked for an answer unknown to him. Perhaps, it's similar to a club I was a part of back then. The thought made him shiver in fright. At age fifteen, Hera had joined a club consisting of noble kids his age looking to make connections and climbing into high society. It had been Hera's first time in that club since he was invited, and he merely accepted it in mere curiosity of what kids his age often do with their time. At that time, he had merely seeked a little bit of normalcy in his life and thought that would have been a place to start. But it seems everyone had been too intimidated to even come close to him... He wasn't the only one though. Another kid had brought a tiny compact where he hid away his cigarettes. Cristoff Rufeol, son of Viscount Rufeol, and practically a walking vessel of bad habits. He had been known to cause trouble in all sorts of places and inhabited unsightly attitude. Whether it was to gamble at the casino, or go drinking late at night with ruffians, he would always be there. Hell, it would have been surprising if you didn't see him commit another blasphemy at all! Almost the entire empire knew of his unflattering personality, that was why nobles repeatedly warned their children to steer clear of him.
"Why did you bring him here!?" Whispered a son of Count. "He was threatening me to him here! What was I supposed to do!?" Whispered back by his brother. By now, they had full on engaged in a full aggressive whispering going back and forth between them. "If you were going to be threatened then you should've at least get dragged by yourself! You didn't have to drag us all down with you!" In his anger, the taller boy pushed his brother back. "And have him beat me up cause I refuse? No way!"
"Then at the very least you shouldn't have come!"
Their argument continued on until Hera averted his gaze to something else that could interest him. This had been a normal party so far. With the light music, tea parties, small talks— Oh, and the backhanded remarks. That had been the most interesting one to see. But other than that, perhaps Hera just had high expectations of what a club would be like. When Hera thought this party couldn't have gone any worse, he saw a puff of smoke approach him from the corner of his eye. Cristoff Rufeol had been watching him from the very start, a spark of interest glistening in his reddening eyes. To think he'd find the crown prince here. This was just what he needed.
"Your Highness, The crown Prince of Eckleis. The Star behind the sun. It's a pleasure to meet you," Cristoff was someone who knew what words to drag out and which ones would convince the other to bend down. He glanced up to find the crown prince had been looking down at him this entire time he had bowed his head in greeting. Hera didn't want to waste a single breath on someone like Cristoff Rufeol. Someone who had freedom and a supportive family still chose to squander away at his father's riches. Perhaps, the parents are at fault for enabling him too. Hera didn't acknowledge his little act. The smell of cigarette alone made him fight the urge to punch a hole straight into Cristoff's lungs himself. Everyone within a mile radius could see the disrespect seeping out of his person when he kept the cigarette pinned between his lips. When Cristoff noted that Hera hadn't reacted to him at all, it povoked a thrilling feeling to surface in his chest. This high horsed prince could detest him all he wants. Cristoff argued that was where the fun would be. Those who battled off hard were always the ones to fall deep into his schemes.
"Your Majesty, truth be told, I'm quite glad to see you here," Cristoff finally took out the cigarette in his lips, fiddling it between his fingers, "You're the only one who can understand me." Cristoff said, "You see, you and I are one in the same!". A breeze passed by between them wafted with the scent of the cigarette lingering in the air. But just like the ashes fallen, discarded on the ground, those words too were easily shoved away. In fact, they were almost hilarious. Too hilarious that Hera couldn't stop the beastly smile on his face as he let out a laugh. Everyone else had stopped what they were doing to catch a sight of this interesting revelation between the Viscount's Bastard son and The Empire's Scorned Prince. Despite the numerous pair of eyes glued on to the two teens, none of them seemed interested in backing off.
"Of course! Think about it, Your Highness. I— who always receives backlash and is avoided by everyone else have no where else to turn to than to my habits. If you'd accept, I want to be able to help you find a place where you feel you belong. Isn't that why you're here in the first place? What do you say?" Cristoff extended the half smoked cigarette towards a disinterested Hera, a small offering to further establish the relationship. When Cristoff decided to force that Count's son in recruiting him into the club, he had only done it to see if he could gain from influencing them to join him, when he realized they were all too scared to even look at him, he had thought his going there was all for nothing. To see the prince here, he guessed it wasn't worth nothing after all.
"It seems you've gotten things mixed up. The Count's son, Cristoff Rufeol and I have nothing— not even close! To be able to say we are the same. It would be akin to assume silk and rags to be the similar as they are both seen as fabrics but anyone could see that they aren't, dont you think?" Hera raised a brow and showed a menacing smile. This crown prince was clearly looking down at him just because he was born in the empire! What, does he think he had it more rough because he's crown prince? All he does in that goddamn palace was to laze around ordering a bunch of maids! Now he's gonna act like he has it more difficult. It ticked off a nerve in Cristoff's neck, but two could play at this game. Cristoff tried to smile through his gritted teeth and said "If you consider yourself right now, Your Majesty, you'll realize I am the only person in this garden to understand you! We're both being pressured by our parents when kids our age are supposed to have fun and be wild yet we're forced to be stuck in our rooms learning about stuff we'll eventually learn when we inherit our parent's positions! I can see it on the look in your face that you truly understand what I'm saying."
Now who is getting stuck in their rooms, me or him? Because with the reputation Cristoff Rufeol has right now, it would wild to guess it was me. Hera couldn't bear to listen to this any further. Them? The same? What a joke! And the look on his face was a sarcastic look. At which part of his face had made it seem otherwise? Hera silently begged that someone would tell him now so he could get his face magically repaired immediately!
"Listen here and listen well, Cristoff Rufeol. You and I will never be carved from the same fabric. You cry and drink away because you can't seem to get a grasp at why you're family's wealth is slowly decreasing when you're the cause of it. I slave away tirelessly dealing with paperwork because scums like you keep causing trouble for everyone else within a twenty mile radius from you. And even if I were to fall into the same holes as you, you would still be the Viscount's bastard son. But I will always be Heracles Eckleis, sworn Crown Prince, and the only legitimate son of Empress Lenoré."
That spectacle had ended with Cristoff Rufeol staying quiet for the rest of the gathering. He had hidden away from everyone behind a tree nearby, perhaps, too ashamed to show his face after what Hera had told him. That's when Hera saw his casually toss his compact of cigarettes behind some trees before shoving both hands into his pockets. Whether what Hera saw was an illusion or a reality, he didn't go to check as he gathered with the rest of the teenagers for an activity. Unfortunately, when Hera thought things couldn't get any worse, it did. From what started out to be a normal tea party between club members had ended with a rather concerning game. These tenmagers had pulled out wads of cash and had two people stand in front, each holding a singular wad. Hera stared, confused at the spectacle in front of him. Then they began the game, Noble Kid A slapped Noble Kid B with the wad of cash, when Noble Kid B stumbled back and refused to get up, the so called referee picked up the fallen cash and handed it out to the winner. A few rounds went on for a couple of minutes. In those couples minutes, Hera couldn't move in shock, even Cristoff who stood at the very far back watched dumbfounded at the scenario before them. Needless to say, Hera had went home earlier than planned and never set foot into that club again. Whatever happened to Cristoff Rufeol though, he didn't know.
Which brought him back to his current situation. He wasn't worried at all since Jayus didn't typically seemed to be the type of person to be into weird things. One of these days, he'll announce the abouts of this upcoming event on his own. As if stunned by a sudden realization, Jayus snapped towards Hera who remained quiet this entire time. He had completely forgotten this information hadn't been made public yet by the Empress. Lord Maganaya had brought up the event so casually that tiny detail had slipped Jayus's mind. Unprompted, Jayus couldn't help the growing nervous feeling eating away at his conscience.
"There's this event coming by in a couple months to properly celebrate the rise of Acriestelion Empire. It's going to be a tournament open to all regions in order to promote unity back to those who decided to cut ties with us... I meant to tell you all this after our purpose in Visaril..." Jayus swallowed down a lump in his throat but Hera couldn't seem to grasp why the duke would be nervous.
"It's alright, My lord, you don't need to tell me everything of every little thing. You only need to tell me what you need me to know, that's all." Whether those words were meant for comfort, it only pricked at Jayus even more. As if that hadn't been enough, Hera added. "Its not a big deal."
Not a big deal? The amount of what you tell someone defined the proximity of the relationship! The more you tell anything and everything to that person decided if you two were even close in the first place! That was how Jayus saw it, so for everyday he'd tell Hera of his day, what he saw, down to the amount of words he wrote that day! He'd find whatever came up to mind to tell Hera, even asking him about his day when all Jayus has done was watch him work. Yet this wasn't a big deal!? No, it was a big deal! It was for Jayus! That's why he saved this conversation for when they got back! So he'd spend hours to talk with Hera instead of short moments in a couple of minutes! And it wasn't a big deal?!
As all this processed within his head, his body had started to shut down. You could even see the steam come out of his head when the gears stopped working. Still, Hera found no faults in what he said. The only person in that alley who shared his sentiments could only give him a pat on the shoulder as a show of understanding.
"My lord... it should be time we head off," Not being able to understand this sudden understanding between Duke and King, Hera could only change the subject. That seemed to bring Jayus back to life as he realized they had lost a lengthy amount of time. "You're right, the village chief is waiting. Lord Maganaya, if you would-" Caspian didn't even let Jayus finished before he waved him off with a smile, "Don't worry, I understand. I must've taken too much of your time already. It's better if we meet again next time during the tournament so be sure to say hi to me then!" Caspian raised his hand to bid farewell before he recalled the so called greeting Maganayans had. Shaking in hesitation, he winded his arm forward to fling his arm once more to the wall. When Jayus and Hera saw him hesitate, they could only watch this man with pity. "Lord Maganaya... You don't have to bid us farewell," Jayus said in a low voice, afraid it would offend the king.
"But—!" Caspian had tried to reason but no other words came to mind. "You really don't have to, I insist." Those words were like the sound running river to his earns. If Jayus insisted then Caspian wouldn't need to force himself. He wanted to play it off saying that he couldn't do anything about it if the duke insisted but when he saw the look of pity on Jayus face, he felt a different wave of hurt. To his pride, and his image. As both men entered the house after bidding Caspian goodbye, leaving the poor man broken and frozen on the ground. Perhaps, Jayus had already known it was fake? But in truth, Jayus hadn't. He merely looked at Caspian in pity since he felt worried Maganayans did this kind of greeting regularly. Regardless if he believed that was an actual exercise, he still felt bad for Maganayas who get hurt doing such greeting. Forever engraved in his heart, he will shed a tear for every Maganaya who ends up doing that greeting.
The room had looked stunningly organized. Everything had been cleaned down to the last spot of dust. In the middle of the room, the village chief sat looking at them from behind his desk. His squinting eyes widened as soon as he saw the duke. It had been Caspian Maganaya and the Bishop coming in his village that made him completely forget he was to have an audience from the duke regarding the matter with the monster! Quickly, he got down from his stool, which surprised both younger men since he was generously shorter than what they expected.
"Duke Frasirr! You've arrived! My apologies for not meeting you at the arch before your arrival," Village chief, Lonus is an extremely generous and soft man. This was something Jayus had already known so he didn't try to give the chief a hard time with such minor issue. "No need to worry about that, Chief Lonus—"
"Lonus alone is fine—" Lonus insisted.
"—Then, Lonus. I came to report to you that your village is now safe again with the monster being apprehended just last night but we failed to acquire any details about the missing females. Is there something you would know about it?" Jayus asked. That expressive voice from earlier left no trace in the face of business and important matters. The question itself brought Lonus back to those moments of despair as helpless cries of those women being dragged off by the monster begged for anyone to save them.
"Ae', there is one thing...." Wordlessly, he walked back to the shelf behind his desk and pulled out a box. He carried it with both hands before he handed it to Jayus. A distinctive smell seemed to emit from the box, feeding cautiousness to Jayus already growing hesitation. With one hand bracing the box, he finally opened the lid to reveal a lock of hair attached to a red patch. Upon closer looks, Jayus realized that what might have been a patch was mostly like a patch of head with it's hair still attached. Hera grew curious from behind and snuck a peek inside only to grimace at the first sight, "Its a scalp with hair..."
Lonus nodded in affirmation. "After the beast had left us, we went into the woods the morning after to search for our family," He explained, "Yet none of them could be found after we've searched the entire radius. That lock of hair was the only thing left..."
There was only one explanation to that. And it meant they would never be able to see those girls again.