Chapter Nineteen

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my nerves. This was it. It was the day of the ceremony. The day that I would not only be introduced to my family and citizens of my kingdom as the once believed to have died prince Erionus Jr, but to the allying kingdoms and my enemies as well.

I opened my eyes and quickly glanced over at the section where the members of my family were seated on the side of the platform. Even though I was too far at the end of the line to distinguish between each person, I could tell who my grandparents and mom were. That's because my grandparents were sitting in larger, ridiculously guady chairs and my mom was the only one in all black to keep up the appearance of mourning.

A girl who was standing a few people away from me in the line sighed heavily. "Poor princess Annaryah. Seems she is still mourning the passing of the prince, rest his soul."

"Of course she is," the boy beside her whispered. "Don't you know what today is?"

"Hm?"

"It's his hatch day," another girl said solemnly before she looked at them. "Princess Annaryah never attends the ceremony but she is here today because it's her son's hatch day and the day he would have come of age."

"Oh my gosh!"

One girl gasped and covered her mouth. "So, we would have been in the same ceremony as the late prince?"

"That's, right. That's why this is a special ceremony. From what I heard, they will be doing something special in his honor during the ceremony."

A guard slithering past us stopped and glared at the group that was talking. "Hey! Hold your tongue! This is no time for your useless gossip!" The group stopped talking immediately and she looked at me with a stoic expression. "You there, come with me."

"Oh! Okay," I said as she turned around and slithered towards the platform. I quickly followed the guard towards the front of the line. Grandma Melyndah was in the middle of her speech when the guard led me past the few royal Nagini dressed in gorgeous robes standing at the front of the line and stopped in front of general Ava. "Here. The last participant of the line."

General Ava looked at me with a stoic expression before she looked at the group of my relatives. "Is this one alright?"

One girl rolled her eyes and waved her hand arrogantly. "I don't care! As long as we are not the first to check the circle, it's fine."

I raised an eyebrow. "What's happening?"

"How dare you question a royal!" The girl said as she raised her hand as if to hit me.

Grandma Melyndah cleared her throat and glared at the princess. The princess immediately dropped her hand and took a step back. Grandma looked at General Ava. "What's going on?"

General Ava bowed. "Princess Rayne is a little uncomfortable with going first so we are asking this participant if they would mind going first instead."

Grandma Melyndah gasped and covered her mouth. "What? My grandchildren are being so gracious as to allow another the opportunity to be the first to receive a blessing? How honorable! Young one, do you accept?"

I noticed the twinkle of cunning in my grandma's eyes and bowed. "I would be most honored, your Majesty."

"Everyone, please give a round of applause to the princess for her humility and grace!" Grandma said and the crowd clapped and cheered. "General Ava, please take the child to choose an enhancer."

"Yes, your Majesty."

General Ava guided me over to a guard who was standing beside a table lined with different objects. "Sorry about this, your highness. Everyone is freaked out by the damn King of Hallow's appearance they are acting like spoiled brats."

I chuckled and put a hand up. "No need to explain. This actually works out. I was going crazy at the end of the line."

"General, this child," the guard asked.

"Don't ask questions you don't want answers to, cadet!"

"Yes! Yes, ma'am!"

"Anyway, let me explain each of the items to you," general Ava said.

"No need," I replied as I quickly scanned the items and saw the withered scepter that was placed on the table. I picked it up and smiled. "I'll take this."

General Ava was visibly shocked. "You... Are you sure? That item hasn't been of aide to anyone in decades."

I smiled and patted her shoulder. "Thank you for your concern, but I got this."

She pressed her lips together, obviously displeased by my choice. However, this was the item Great papa had asked me to choose. I slithered past my rude cousin and her entourage and they snickered. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe he chose such a worthless enhancer!"

"What an idiot!"

I ignored them and went up the platform. Grandma frowned as I approached the woman who was monitoring the circle. She looked at me oddly. "Excuse me, little guy, but you have to take off your cloak."

"Oh," I said before I untied the string on the cloak. I heard several gasps as I handed the woman my cloak and smiled. "Could you please do me the honor of holding this for me?"

She stared at me as if in a trance before she blinked. "Oh! Uh, sure," she said as she blushed and took the cloak.

"Whoa! What a gorgeous young man!"

"He has horns! Is he half dragonborne?"

I felt a little awkward hearing the comments from the people in the crowd. However, I kept my composer and slithered into the circle. The moment I made it to the middle of the circle, the power of the manna circulating in the circle ignited and it began to glow with all of the colors. I was a little startled and apparently so was the crowd. Gasps and murmurs filled the air. However, I didn't have time to pay attention to it. A strong wind picked up around me and began to swirl with rainbow colors. My heart thumped as I heard several soft and ethereal voices enter my ears.

"Blessings, prophesied one..."

"Blessings, child of destiny..."

"Blessings..."

There were so many voices speaking and they were all so soft that they started to blend in together, sounding like the sound of a running water. Water. I immediately recalled the waterfall flowing in the garden as a cool and refreshing sense of clarity washed over me. Suddenly, everything began to make sense and form a interweaving picture in my mind. All of the events that I had experienced in my past, from birth, to the human realm, to now, were all related. The people I met, the friends I made, the bullies, even the random people I passed on the street. They were not random people at all. They were all connected. Nothing in my life, in anyone's life, was coincidence. From the history I had read in books to my personal experiences, every event had purpose. They were all important pieces to the giant puzzle that was my fate.

The garden on the mountain wasn't simply a garden in a domain created by my great grandfather turned master, Nylamu. It was a temple. The grass, trees, and flowers were all the products of the prayers and offerings of those who worshipped Nylamu over the years and still worship him now. The waterfall was a manifestation of the ancestors and their blessings. When I sat in the pond and my grandpa poured water over my head as I meditated, he was actually covering me with blessings given and received by great grandfather Nylamu. They were his blessing and a portion of what he had left aside for his descendants.

The moment that realization hit, I felt something snap inside of my chest before warmth rushed through my body. My vision began to flash from my regular vision to just heat signals and I could see the cold figures of various spirits swirling around me in the whirlwind. However, I didn't have any time to focus on them. A tingling sensation ran across my scales. In the next instance, I felt a slightly uncomfortable stinging on my back, just between my shoulder blades before a sudden release of the pressure. Almost immediately, the wind died down and my ears were once again inundated with a sea of murmurs and quiet discussions.

"Whoa!"

"Cool!"

"How beautiful!"

"Holy crap! Could it be?"

I lifted my head and looked at the sea of heat signals. Several gasps from the crowd as well as from the platform sounded in my ears. I blinked a few times, causing my vision to shift back to normal, and saw that everyone in the crowd was staring at me with looks of surprise, awe , and a bit of fear. At first, I was confused as to why everyone was looking at me so strangely. I thought that they might not be looking at me at all. However, when I was just about to look over my shoulder to see if someone else was behind me, a golden light suddenly appeared around me. I felt a heaviness fall down on my head, as if a large hand had landed on the top of my head, before Great papa Nylamu's voice echoed through the air.

"My beloved seed, I bestow unto you, my inheritance as the future ruler of my people. May your beauty, grace, knowledge and discernment."

The golden light began to disappear and the heaviness I was feeling on my head went away as his voice faded. I bowed my head and said, "Thank you, papa."

"The scepter!" One of my family members jumped up and said as they pointed at me. "It's grandfather's scepter!"

"This child has received the blessing of Nylamu!"

"Hm?" I said as I looked down and saw that the scepter that was once an old, withered stick was now a refreshed, golden piece of ornately carved wood. "Whoa! Cool! Look, G-G! It's pretty now!" I said as I turned to grandma and said excitedly.

She smiled sweetly and nodded. "Mn. It's very pretty."

"G-G?" One of my female family members said as she frowned in confusion. "Wait. This child,"

"The chosen one," someone in the crowd said. "It's the chosen one of prophecy!"

"No! Impossible! This... this can't be possible!" A man yelled and I looked down at the crowd to find an older gentleman wearing extravagant looking gold and white robes staring at me like he was looking at a ghost. He stumbled back and pointed at me. "You! You are supposed to be dead!"

My expression turned stoic. "My apologies for disappointing you, but I'm alive."

"Is this some kind of a joke?" One of my family members asked.

"It's not a joke," mom said as she smiled brightly. "My baby has returned home to me!"

The woman beside her looked at her with a worried expression and asked, "Sister, what did you do?"

Mom frowned at her. "I didn't do anything."

The woman frowned. "This is impossible! We all saw the void open and your child fall through it! How is he standing there?"

"Did you make a deal with Lucius?"

Mom smirked. "I did ask him for help finding his soul,"

"Anna!"

Mom put a hand up. "But, he couldn't find it."

"Huh?"

"He wasn't in the underworld."

The man who was sitting on the other side of my mom frowned. "What do you mean, he wasn't in the underworld?"

Grandma Melyndah put a hand up. "If everyone could please calm down, I will explain everything to you." Everyone quickly quieted down. She stood up and slithered over to my side. "Dear citizens and friends, I'm sure you are wondering how my grandson, prince Eric, could be standing here today. You probably think he's an imposter or that we lied about him having fallen into a spontaneous void crack. I assure you, we didn't lie. This child did fall through a void crack. The shock of my other children should be proof enough of that."

"Then, how is he standing there?"

"Right! No one can endure the primordial manna in the void!"

I frowned. "Primordial manna?" I rubbed my chin and thought about it.

"We are not sure ourselves as to how he survived, but we,"

"Excuse me, but I think I can explain it," a familiar masculine voice said from the side of the platform, causing my heart to thump.

I spun around and saw a handsome man with tan skin and long, jet black hair, coming up the platform. Behind him, two tall and muscular men with identical features as the first man followed behind him. "Eric!" Mom cried out as he walked over and stopped beside me and grandma.

"Daddy?" I asked as I looked up at him.

He smiled and patted the top of my head. "Hey, dragonfly."

Grandma frowned. "Eric? What are you,"

He bowed to her. "Forgive me, mother, but I have a confession to make. I am not a member of the extended family of the Ryujin."

"What do you mean?"

"Ha! I knew it! There's no way a vicious and brutal princess like Anna could ever be chosen as the wife of a such a powerful being!" The woman beside my mom said as she rolled her eyes.

My face turned stoic and I looked back at the woman. I really had the urge to bite her. However, dad just chuckled. "I am not the Ryujin's extended relative. I am his son."

"What?"

"Allow me to properly introduce myself." He bowed elegantly and said, "Greetings, mother in law, father in law, dear in laws, I am Prince Erionus Ryan Drake of Draconia."

Gasps and cries of shock erupted around us. "Prince Erionus? You mean,"

"So, you're the Dragon Lord," grandma said as she folded her arms.

Dad smiled awkwardly. "My apologies for not being truthful, but I was on a mission and needed to keep my true identity hidden."

Papa groaned and rubbed his temples. "So, you are a Meldrake. Now it makes sense."

One of the young men seated in the row behind my mom frowned. "I apologize, but I'm confused. What does that have to do with cousin not perishing in the void?"

Papa Malcom looked at him as if he was an idiot. "He didn't perish because he is a Meldrake."

The young man looked confused. "Meldrake?"

"We are black Drakkon, nephew," dad explained. "Our bodies are made of primordial energy."

"We will explain it all in greater detail later. For now, we should take our seats so the ceremony can continue."

"Ah! Yes! The ceremony!" Grandma cleared her throat and looked at the crowd. "Everyone, I know that we are all in a bit of shock, but we have other children that are here to make their transition into the next stage of their evolution."

"Yes! We should all put the shock of my return to the side and give our attention to all of the wonderful and gifted young citizens I have been honored enough to participate in the ceremony with!" I looked at the long line of kids and smiled brightly. "My apologies for taking up more time than I should have. I sincerely ask for your forgiveness and give you all my blessings and support in your ascension into the next stage!"

Grandma patted my head and whispered. "Well said! Now let's go take our seats!"

"Mn!" I said with a nod.