As the man's consciousness slowly returned to him, the door to his chambers materialized in his vision, ajar and bleeding sunlight into the room as he heard the sound of curtains opening beside him. Squinting into the morning sun, his eyes were graced by the silhouette of his wife.
"Good morning, your majesty."
Chuckling as he slowly got out of bed, he returned the greeting.
"Good morning Chloe, and uh, please don't make calling me that a habit."
Smiling as she handed him his clothes, she continued playfully.
"Why not? It's got a nice ring to it, right?"
Dressing himself in the royal garb of his country, Shay let out a small laugh.
"Hah, I can't deny that, to be honest. Anyway, it's not even official yet, so hold off for at least a little while."
The sunlight now spilling into the space through a grand window, Chloe helped Shay get his raiments in order.
"I guess I'll save it for after the coronation then…man, you suck at putting these on…Alright, that should do it, meow."
Finishing up her adjustments and stepping back to admire her handiwork, Chloe was beaming as they left the room. Greeting the servants as they went about their tasks, the two walked through the palace towards the royal garden. As they left the interior, a servant handed Chloe a batch of letters. Preparing to view the first, she broke the wax seal in the shape of the trickster emblem.
"Oh-ho, look at this, meow. The Loki familia sent their congratulations."
Smiling, Shay responded lightly.
"That's nice of them. Who wrote it?"
"Hmmm, seems like Finn. It's very diplomatic."
"Haha, good. Has he settled down yet?"
As Chloe became absorbed in the other letters, Shay brought her back to reality, the pair strolling through the garden on their way out of the royal grounds.
"Hey, you there?"
"Oh, sorry, meow. You've also got ones from the Guild, Hestia familia, and Freya familia. Oh, and Také familia, too. Seems like everyone still remembers you."
It's been a good while, huh?
As they came up on one of the garden's new statues, Shay couldn't help the smile rising to his face, laughing heartily.
"Wow, they really did a great job with this one!"
Carved in marble surrounded by greenery was the figure of the Night Fury Xenos, its tail secured to the statue's base and its wings spread high in a magnificent V shape. As they marveled at the detailed scales and sharp eyes, Shay wondered how the Xenos were doing.
After the death of the One Eyed Black Dragon, the Dungeon had unleashed countless monsters into Orario. As one of the prominent groups to defend the city, the Xenos had made incredible progress with their public perception. Combine that with the help Toothless had given against the One Eyed Black Dragon, and the result was this statue and many others like it.
Moving on to the next area to be approved, he once again felt a smile emerge on his features as he spotted the other new statue. As he stood silently in front of the piece, Chloe interjected through small fits of laughter.
"Pfft, you've got a better chin than that, meow! They must've gotten the wrong model…!"
Joining in the laughter of his partner, Shay reflected on the statue.
It too was cut out of marble, with the base made to look shattered and bursting, as if responding to the force of a heavy impact. Standing in the center was an adventurer, his battle cloth flowing like it was flapping in the wind and jagged arcs of lightning frozen on the surface of his skin. The figure was holding his spear down in front of him with a determined look on his face.
It's not so bad.
Shay had to admit it was a pretty flattering piece, on the whole. The figure's hair flowed in the fictitious wind and the statue projected an air of intense focus and strength. But that wasn't the part that he most appreciated.
Emerging from the figure's shoulder was the head of a woman wreathed in lightning, with jagged arcs of marble surrounding the soft features of the Spirit that had given Shay his potential.
Thank you, Raijin.
As he reflected on his journey Shay stood silently, his shadow and that of his wife mirroring that of the adventurer and his Spirit as the sun rose into the sky beside them. As he thought of what the future had in store, Shay tried to think of an ethos good enough to pass on to his children.
Monsters, chaos… the default state of us mortals is certainly rife with suffering.
Looking between the statue and Chloe, his lips turned up in a smile.
But, I certainly can't say it's not worth it.
Striving for revenge, forgiving the sins of the past, finding purpose and setting an example to follow. As he considered his own story Shay looked into the eyes of the statue.
In our stories, Heroes rise to confront the monsters, to tame the chaos.
Inspired by these stories, someone takes up the sword.
They choose to find meaning in their suffering, facing monsters and becoming stronger so that they can save themselves and others.
Forthrightly confronting the tragedy of being, the brave adventurer embarks upon the adventure of their life.
The brave adventurer weaves their very own Heroic Myth.