When needed, the world will call on the Judge of the Heavens, the Child of the Stars
A full moon shone in the sky. The town was slowly awakened by the clatter of metal. A young lady came out from her home and was met with a bruised and bloodied young man, uttering "Help me" as he collapsed by her feet.
The smell of freshly baked bread, with hints of butter and cinnamon, wafted through the air and offered comfort from the cold of the early morning. There was only one person in the bakery: a young lady with dark brown hair wearing a simple dark blue tunic and an apron slightly covered in flour. She hummed a simple and soft melody while arranging freshly baked pastries on her display stand, making sure the prices were correct. The bakery stood at its position on the main street, brandishing the name Patisserie Ashfield as the young lady poured her heart into each loaf, cake and pastry while Willowstead Town stirred awake.
Hours pass by and the town slowly warmed to life as the noon's sun began to rise. Children started their daily escapades, townsfolk clattered to their work, merchants set up their stalls, calling out to any passerby. This hustle and bustle created a sense of simplicity and normality about the town. As she works, the young lady hears snippets of conversation from the bakery's seating area, with her attention drawn to a more serious talk between two older men.
"Have you heard? Lucosia is looking to use their ports to rule the trade market by finding and selling goods from other continents!" one man spoke, his voice low
"How interesting," the other replied, "Carienda and a few other nations seem to be preparing for war. I've heard word that some kingdoms have recently been looking into that one knight! Remember, they called him the strongest in this land! The legendary knight, Star Child!!"
The young lady's hand paused mid-air, the pastry knife hovering over the delicate frosting. Her mind drifted away from the task at hand, lost in a swirl of thoughts. Star Child. She wasn't sure if there was a soul in this land that hadn't heard of him. The prophesied warrior and the strongest knight of the strongest knight order from the fallen kingdom of Magnaria: the Celestial Blades. He had mysteriously disappeared 2 years ago which was what led to the fall of Magnaria. What had happened to him? Was he truly being sought after?
Her pause was interrupted by a call from a customer, "Elise!! We need some more bread over here!"
"I'll be on my way!" she replied
As she went on to serve her customers, Elise spotted a young man helping the owner of Willowstead's general store, Mr Hanzo, move some new goods to his store. She quickly went into the bakery and prepared a bag of pastries and a chair next to her counter after serving them. As she finished her preparations, the young man approached her.
"Good afternoon, Elise," said the man, his voice warm but exhausted. His brown hair was unkempt due to his physical labours, and his muscles flexed beneath his shirt as he stretched.
"Good afternoon, Caelus," she replied with a smile, wiping her hands on her apron, "looks like you've been hard at work today."
"Yep!" he groaned as he stretched more, "The townsfolk needed me to do repairs and carry some stuff, the usual, y'know."
"Here, for you" she slid the prepared bag of pastries over to Caelus, who received it with a wide grin, "your usual order, on the house!"
"Elise, you're too kind!" he replies, slightly tearing up
"It's just a way of thanking you for all your hard work! We truly don't deserve you!" she replied with a bright smile
Their chat continued into the day, accompanied by the coming and going of Elise's customers. Then, the focus of the town collectively a group of armoured travellers: knights. Travellers were quite rare for Willowstead. Even more strange was that their carriage didn't bear the flag of the kingdom: Eldralis. They carried with them looks of irritation as they examined the main street, dragging with them an extremely disheveled young woman dressed in tattered robes, covered in dried blood and healing wounds. The knights moved over to the town square, notifying their captain when they found the announcement stage.
"Listen up, lowly commoners!!!" the captain shouted up from the stage, with townsfolk flocking around him in confusion, "We are knights from the kingdom of Vornacia! I will only say this once! Tell us the location of the knight known as Star Child!! We checked through all rumours and he was last sighted in this area!!"
Hushed whispers ran through the quickly panicking crowd.
"Star Child?!"
"He's still alive?"
"What do you think the king is gonna do about this?"
Elise listened intently, with a sense of fear quickly washing over her mind
"Star Child?! The same knight that put fear in the heart of kings? The knight whose very name kept war away? That Star Child?" she thought
A solemn demeanour fell over Caelus' face as he placed a reassuring hand upon Elise's shoulder. The crowd was increasingly becoming more restless with anxiety and queries.
"If you will not tell us," the captain yelled, "we will simply identify the bastard! Men! Bring forth the prisoner!"
Some of the knights dragged and threw the dishevelled woman to the captain's feet, where he grasped her by her hair, ignoring her cries of pain.
"This woman's name is Mirabelle Ardent! She was a member of the Celestial Blades and fought alongside Star Child! She can easily recognise the bastard in this crowd! Now get to it, woman!" he yells as he kicks her in the gut.
She quickly scanned over the crowd, as she had limited options otherwise. Her gaze darted from side to side, until it fell upon Caelus. The very sight of his face instilled a look of terror on her face.
"Aha! She's seen him! Point him out! NOW!" the captain shouts
"Excuse me, if you wouldn't mind doing so, could you tell us your name?" Caelus said, like booming interruption to the crowd's panic
"Why should I tell a cur like you my na-"
"Tell me your name!" Caelus replied, giving the captain a look that shook him to his core
"M-my name is Adrian Vander of Vornacia! What use does knowing my name serve you?"
"Well, Adrian, I'm the one you're looking for. I'm Star Child."
The justified silence that followed Caelus' revelation was fed by the shock of the townsfolk. Captain Adrian and Elise visibly took the greatest shock, as they screamed "WHAT!!!" in unison.
Captain Adrian quickly regained his focus and signalled to his knights to draw their blades. "You will come with us immediately!"
"I don't think so." Caelus replied nonchalantly
"You seem to forget that we have a hostage," said the captain, pressing his sword on Mirabelle's chin, "I would advise that you do not make any rash decisions. If you don't come with us peacefully, we will resort to more forceful tactics."
"I'm not going with you."
"Men! You know what to do!"
As Caelus came to the front of the crowd, he was faced with the Vornacian knights starting to surround him, with their captain turning his back to him, seemingly making preparations to leave. Then, in a flash, Caelus almost materialised in front of the captain, leaving behind the unconscious bodies of his fourteen assailants down from the stage.
"W-what!! T-that.... that's not possible!" the captain cried out in fear
"You're far too weak to even think about taking me by force." Caelus replied
As the captain brought up his blade in preparation to attack, Caelus landed an incredibly swift blow, resulting in the shattering of his steel and armour. The captain was launched off the stage, into the bodies of his men, with a grim shadow darkening his face followed by scared gasps from the crowd.
"Leave this town at once!" Caelus declared as he freed Mirabelle from her bonds "Put them into your carriage and be gone! As soon as possible!"
The captain took not a second longer after receiving the command. He quickly grabbed as many of his men as he could, getting his squire to wake some up to assist him. After getting all of them into the carriage, they left in a fearful frenzy. In spite of the townsfolk's continued silence, Caelus spoke out to Elise.
"Elise! You can drop them off by my place. And the rest of you, shouldn't worry, I'll explain the whole deal later."
Caelus exits the town square, towards the direction of his home, leaving behind the bewildered townsfolk.