Last Moments...

"Have you ever drowned before?"

Hands swaying erratically, trying to reach that light that flickers—the only sense of hope present in the world to you at that moment, the only thing that ever mattered.

Yet, it is all for naught as those icy depths drag you further and further away from it. That beast you never knew you had fought a good battle, but lost. And then they began flashing before your very eyes.

Memories...

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"Our Winterfall Dynasty had stood unfelled ever since the dawn of time, blessed with the power of the Moon petals. That is our power, our source of strength, and our origin."

The exalted voice of a man dressed in long flowing robes, with a snow-white crown on his head, boomed through the palace walls as he stood, his throne behind him while to his side were two incredibly beautiful women, whose identities one could easily guess...

"And today you all will be taking part in the moon ritual. To find out how many petals you are blessed by the Moon..." he said, his prideful eyes staring below him were his people were gathered, the most prominent being the young ones, boys and girls of about 16 years of age...

Immediately, he stretched forth his hands, and from within his palms, a blue wave of energy emanated, revealing it to be an astral flower with a total of five petals.

"Earth to Water. The fateful moon to Aetheria. Bless Your Own and Rest Their Destinies Within Your Palms..." He said, his incantation ringing loud and clear.

And immediately the flower floated up into the sky right in the middle of the crowd of about fifty children...

Immediately, its astral roots elongated like vines, wrapping around the fifty children as it raised them up from the ground, and immediately they all were forced to slumber.

With bated breaths, the people waited, eyes focused, hearts raised to their throats, and hands rubbing together...

Until...

A Halo

Another Halo

And then Halos...

The runic lines began appearing on the children's foreheads. Runic lines depicting petals in lotus shapes.

And after a quiet pause, 25 children were placed on the ground one by one. Those who were first dropped he ground were those possessing a single petal on their forehead.

And the eyes of the children and their parents were tinged with slight disappointment, looking at the lotus on their forehead which only had a single petal...

3 minutes passed...

And out of the remaining 25 children, 15 were once again dropped to the ground, and this time they all had just 2 petals on their forehead...

5 minutes passed...

And out of the 10 remaining children, 5 children were once again dropped to the ground, and this time, there were loud cheers from the people. The children, they all had 3 petals on their forehead...

But soon a total of four of them were dropped to the ground, and this time, they had four shining leaves on the petals present on their forehead...

"Wait, there's still one. There's still one present..." The voice rang out as they all turned their attention towards the last child who was still present in the air.

And with shock, they watched as the halo surrounding him began getting brighter, and brighter, and brighter, until he became a living human torch, runic lines all over his body each of them brightened in runic blue energy...

And with dazed eyes, time passed...

10 minutes....

30 minutes...

45 minutes...

"Don't tell me..." The king mused, as the child was dropped to the ground, and slowly those runes surrounding his body slowly disappeared.

Revealing the child, who was in fact a blue-haired male. But the crowd paid attention to something of much more significance. The petal image on his head.

"This...This..." A villager struggled to say as he looked at the portals.

"Nine petals! He is blessed with nine petals..."

Silence enveloped, arising as a result of the shock, before...

CHEERS

Heart-bustling cheers rang out from the crowd as they watched the king jump down from his dais, his fall shaking the entire ground, and with one swift stroke, he lifted up the young man from the ground.

"The Moon Petal has blessed us with one carrying its full origin. And he is none other than my son, Hael Winterlock..."

"YEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"

It was a night of celebration, with drinks and meats. As that fateful day in one of the Four great Dynasties of Lexuria, a man was born with a talent said to rival that of a god's!

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"Don't keep that lousy face, you goof. Come and dance with your king, young prince..." The excited voice of 'King Vuernech' rang out as he watch his son ascend the stairs.

His wavy blue hair bouncing up and down his head, on his handsome face, a modest smile belonging to that of royalty.

Blue eyes of a father and child locked together, as the sound of the flutes and drum rang out even louder, and the musicians played like there will be this was their last performance.

Legs slamming onto the ground, its form ever-changing, hands locked onto each other, Hael danced with his father, on the dais.

It wasn't the first time that he had danced with his father, but it was definitely the first time with him in such a large gathering.

And that was a memory that continuously played in his eyes, as the icy depths dragged him deep and deeper into its bosom, yet his heart refused to let him go, as it forcefully tried all it could to...

Play that last memory. That memory that turned everything, upside down...

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"Come with me, Hadeon. Let us show these fools how to wage war!!!"

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