Red Leaf City. The year was 345 (Luther Era), Current King was Noa Luther III [Skusta Kingdom].
The hooded man who just finished his registration and entered the city stood in awe of a marble statue standing tall at 15 feet in a podium, the tattoos of the hooded man's face was revealed as he looked up to check the statue. He gauged the young man who was around 30 years old. Though unfamiliar, he was certain of the young man's charisma base only on his face and built. The unfamiliar thin armor which is fitted that is almost like bulging muscles give the young man a more valiant look. He could not understand what the statue projects because the armor the statue wore is very modern and it was the first time this man saw it. [Author: "Imagine a futuristic armor like Iron Man's, with a king's cape."
Curious and worried, He sighed and bravely walks towards the castle.
The castle
As the hooded man entered the premises of the castle, it was busy and hectic. He was flabbergasted of what he witnessed. Flying machines and weird machinery was in coordination with soldiers, staff and workers inside and outside the castle premises. Rather than surprised he was more than curios and confused of what he was currently witnessing. He occasionally stopped on his tracks to look and observed the things he would not normally see, and even with his vast experienced travelling as a representative of his tribe, he was not new to the royalties houses, castles, furniture and decorations but what he was witnessing was out of this world for him.
After waiting at the guest room, he was called and escorted to the monarch's office which the current ruler reside and do his duties.
The hooded man was worried as he entered the room, but his worried face was abruptly change to confusion. "Noa" he spoke softly as he was slowly looking at the monarchs face sitting behind the table. "You Disrespectful man, you dare address his majesty by his name?", the bearded knight beside the table angrily retorted as he hastily drawn his sword and pointed towards the hooded man.
"Erik, its fine. He is my brother, Norman". Smilingly spoke the monarch as he gazed at the surprised Hooded man.
"Brother, you are fine. How did this happen?" He was down on his knees and could not believe of what he was seeing. In his memories, the sickly prince who was his childhood friend which he consider as brother is healthy and fine. During their childhood, though it was not his fault. He was guilty of what had happened to the prince because of an unfortunate event.
Flashback
It was a rainy day in a village when a messenger arrived riding a galloping horse. "Urgent from the castle, call the village chief." The villager hastily called the chief and met the messenger. "Chief, the prince needs you." Beside the chief was a little boy, age 15 named Norman who was the grandson of the village chief which is the Royal Doctor at that time.
"Messenger, what happened to Noa?" The boy worriedly said, as he was the only friend of the sickly prince Noa. The messenger hesitated to answer the boy but recalled a memory who he heard from a staff in the palace that said the prince was a pity because of his illness and only a few person can meet him including the royalty's physician and his grandson.
"Are you a friend of the prince?" the messenger asked, and Norman hastily nodded with a worried look. The messenger nodded and understood what he needed to do so he commanded. "Chief, I will go first with your grandson. Please prepare immediately and proceed to the castle as soon as possible." The messenger said, then gestured for Norman to join him.
Inside the castle, a thin sickly boy was in bed struggling to catch his breath. His crying mother was beside him while the king was standing defeated beside the bed when the door opened. Everyone including the attendants who was caring for prince Noa looked at the door expecting the physician but it was the worried Norman who entered. Bowed and gave respect to the king and the queen, he slowly walked towards the bedridden Noa with watery eyes. He could only stare at him stunned until he heard the kings voice asked him of his grandfather. "Your majestly, he might be on his way as we speak." The king nodded.
"Varyz, can we save him?" the village chief which is also the royalty's physician. "Your Highness, what I only do is alleviate some pains, and maybe administer some booster medicine but curing his illness is currently out of my reach." Said Varyz, with a very carefull tone. The king was reluctant to scold Varyz, he was unwilling to believe that there is no more hope but he knows that there is a limit to what they can do. So the king sighed and nodded in defeat.
"But there is one way we can prolong his life..." Varyz said in a trembling voice, gazing seriously at the king. "Did you mean to say that is the only way?" the king knows something but obviously hesitant to talk about it. The queen suddenly stood up with a determined look while wiping her tears away with his bare hands. "Husband, my king. I don't care about the consequences, please save my son."
They were referring about a poison that can remove pain, help relax the patient, slow down the spread of illness but induce paralysis and coma, thought it is helpful in many ways in medicine. It was eventually banned because of rare and unknown side effects like going crazy, permanent blindness, defects permanent coma or paralysis. It was certainly the last resort. It was a decision who the king can only decide, and everyone is waiting for his answer.
It was about a minute, but certainly felt like forever for everyone waiting for the kings decision. "Alright" he gestured for the physician to do the last resort. Everyone sighed in relief and everyone hastily administered the poison. Prince Noa breathing stabled and his pale face diminished slowly and from now onwards, it will be a long arduous waiting as they will hope for the chief doctor or any other person in the field of medicine to discover the prince's illness and cure it somehow. If not, they wait for a miracle.
Days, weeks, months and years passed by with no improvement. So Norman at the age 18, it was the aged of their transition to adulthood in which they are now legal to decide on their own embarked on a journey to find cure for his childhood friend and the supposedly air to the throne.
Present.
And it was this day that he returned empty handed and lonely, alone thinking that there was no hope for his friend but still hopeful to meet his friend still alive. He was not expecting anything, but this was the next year will be the time that his grandfather foretold that the prince life will most likely end so he was a year early to check and hope for the best.
As tears flowed in his eyes, the silhouette of the prince walking towards him was like a dream for him. It was more than he asked for. Emotion of shame, guilt, confusion, longing, joy and happiness mixed together as he looked at the prince.
"Come now stand and sit here." The prince kneeled down to support his friend Norman and guided him to the sofa in the corner of the office. "Long story short, it was a miracle. But that miracle came with a price, a price we are uncertain of as of now. But the good part is, I am healthy and will have a lot of explaining to do. For now, please settle down." The prince amusingly said to Norman who was crying like a child.
After a while, the prince started to tell the story of what had happened. "The story begun when my father saw a sign from heaven while he was praying on top of Mt. Sigil for a miracle." He immediately decreed an expedition to the direction in which he saw the meteor he saw.