Chapter Forty-Four: The Hero

The parade continued as the first princess of the Empire, Seraphina Waltz, walked into the Imperial Castle.

Alex and the group started to watch on one of the magic projectors they have around the town, showing the entirety of the parade.

The Princess entered a long room with armored knights on each side of a red velvet carpet.

As she walked down the hall, two people could be spotted sitting on thrones.

The Emperor and the Empress.

Giliath and Rosabella Waltz.

The two who ruled over the entirety of the empire Many people had mixed views on Giliath, but Rosabella had won over many people's hearts around the Empire due to her kindness.

Giliath ruled with an iron fist. He is one of the few emperors to fight on the battlefield. Giliath had long gray hair while also having blood-red eyes. He is rather well known for his combat practice and skills as a strategist. He leads his own personal unit into the battlefield as well, with people he has hand-selected. Many foes have tried to go against him, with little to no success.

Rosabella, meanwhile, was her husband's opposite; instead of ruling with an iron fist, she ruled through kindness and respect. She has never taken sides in politics. Instead, she was fair, weighing all arguments, and she has cared for the commoners where not many empresses had before.

Next to the Emperor and Empress were four others: the princes and princesses and the Empire.

Elliott Waltz is the third prince of the Empire and the youngest of the Imperial Family. He is rather known for being kind, but apparently he is also extremely shy, especially during big events like this. Unlike his other brothers, he was the only one who had pink hair like his mother and also inherited her blue eyes.

Alex could see him nervously smiling as he stood among his family.

Fiona Waltz is the second princess of the Empire and the second youngest of the Imperial family. She inherited her mother's pink hair but her father's red eyes. Many say she has a different personality than her mother. According to rumors, she is very entitled and refuses to have anything to do with anyone she personally doesn't want to. Also, apparently, she is a major daddy's girl and could do whatever she wanted and be fine.

Spencer Waltz, the middle child of the imperial family, is known for his charisma, his naturally blonde hair, as his father once did, and his mother's blue eyes. He serves as governor general of the eastern region of the empire and has served the area well. He is a master of politics and could talk his way into getting whatever he wanted. According to rumors, he was also a bit of a playboy, which is something the Imperial family obviously doesn't want brought up.

Then there was the firstborn son and oldest child of the Imperial family, the heir to the empire.

Arthur Waltz is known to be a prodigy child, great at swordsmanship, a great mage as well, intelligent, charismatic, and basically the perfect heir to an empire. Many people adored him, especially the female populace, for his handsome looks. Like his father and younger brother, he possessed naturally blonde hair and the crystal blue eyes of his mother.

As Alex laid his sights on Arthur, he felt a weird anger inside of him.

"Why do I feel this anger? I never even met him before." Alex thought to himself.

It was a feeling Alex didn't understand. an unshakable hatred for someone he had never even met before.

The princess would join her family as the Emperor would start a speech congratulating his daughter while also throwing out some words for everyone else, playing to the crowd like a true emperor does.

Alex, however, didn't listen to a word he said; he was having trouble understanding what was happening. It was almost as if he could see only red as he looked at Arthur.

Alex told the girls he was going to head home because he didn't feel well. They all offered to walk him home, but he said he could get there himself.

Alex got back to the house and immediately went to his room to lie down.

He could feel his heart beating with increasing speed.

"What could have done this to me?" he thought to himself.

Nothing made sense.

A guy he had never spoken to before gave him so much anger.

Little did Alex know that all of his questions and more would be answered that night.

Alex had decided to try and sleep off whatever he was feeling; there's nothing a good nap can't fix, right?

However, two entities weren't going to allow him to simply drift off.

"Hello Darling."

Alex opened his eyes and saw a room he was all too familiar with, but it also looked different.

He looked around at the mix of white and purple in the room while turning his attention to two women he knew very well sitting on separate thrones.

"Xymaris, Iris, what am I doing here?" Alex asked.

"Please sit down; we need to explain something important to you." Iris said.

Alex did as she said and sat down on a purple couch.

"See, I told you he would pick my couch." Iris said, looking at Xymaris.

"Hmph."

As Xymaris pouted, he noticed there was another couch near him, but it was white instead of purple.

Iris smiled and continued what she was saying.

"So, Alex, we know what happened today."

"Yes, that's the reason you felt so much pain after seeing that man today." Xymaris added on.

"I can't explain it; it was like feeling so much rage and anger without a reason. I never even met Arthur before, yet I couldn't stay calm." Alex explained.

"We know, and we know why you had this feeling." Xymaris said.

"Remember what my sister told you years ago. That you were to be the villain." Iris said.

"Yeah, she said I was supposed to go against the hero, right?" Alex said.

While saying that it clicked in Alex's head. The reason for the unexplainable anger he felt. It was as if everything became so much clearer.

"Arthur is...the hero?" Alex asked.

"Yes, Arthur Waltz, heir to the Empire, is the hero you are meant to face." Xymaris explained.

"In the future, the Empire will come under a threat, a threat that nearly destroys the world. However, Arthur Waltz and a group of his friends and lovers will face the threat, and through many battles, he will slowly lose everyone he loves, leading to the fall of this world." Iris explained.

"So what, do you want me to become a new threat in the story to stop the threat where the hero fails?" Alex asked.

"Something like that; truthfully, we can't force you to be a villain; freedom of choice is in all humans after all, but we can say that if you don't at least embrace some of your cruelty and anger, you will lose everything when the bigger threat comes." Xymaris said.

"You can really do whatever you want in the end, but this is just our suggestion." Iris said.

"So I have to be evil in order to stop evil?" Alex asked.

"That is up to you in the end; after all, I believe there is a quote about how only evil can stop evil in those animes you used to watch." Xymaris said.

"How much do you know about me and how..." Alex was kind of disturbed that she knew one of his favorite animes.

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to." Xymaris said.

"She's kind of a stalker." Iris said

"I won't deny it."

"Well, that's very enlightening, so what am I supposed to do? Just become a villain?" Alex asked.

"Once again, that's entirely up to you, but if you fail to become stronger than Arthur and stop the true villain, if you will, everything you love will be lost." Iris said.

"So Alex, will you stain your hands with evil to stop evil?" Xymaris said, smiling

"Stop quoting anime!" Iris said.

"You're no fun." Xymaris said while pouting.

"This is a serious situation here, sister; please stop teasing for now." Iris asked her sister.

"Wait, why can't I just side with the hero to take on this "Greater Villain" you keep talking about?' Alex asked.

"I suppose you could, in all honesty, but let's say I don't think you want to; his personality is...well, something, and if you want to protect everyone you care about, siding with him is equivalent to a death sentence." Xymaris said.

"I guess I'll just have to find out for myself then." Alex said.

"Is he a hero with a shitty personality or something?" Alex thought to himself.

"Well, sadly, this conversation of ours must end soon; your family is coming home to check on you." Iris said.

"Sadly, she's right, Alex; however, I will tell you something: someone will soon show up and show you a new path. Just listen to them, and from then on, your path is yours." Xymaris said.

Alex started to wake up hearing the fading words from Xymaris: "I'll see you soon, my darling."

Alex woke up in his bed. He could hear the others come through the front door.

Alex sat up in his bed and went into his thoughts...

"What do I do now?"

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