As the two were making their way to Azariah's place, they talked about each other's lives and interests. The two slowly started getting comfortable with each other as they chatted.
On their way, they found a crowd gathering around a single person. Artemis caught a glimpse of the person the people were gathering around.
The person was a tall, pale man with long blonde hair; he also looked like a very kind and friendly person with his small, shy-like smile. Furthermore, Artemis noticed something wrapped around the guy's neck—it looked like a living white snake, how strange.
"Who is he? And why are people gathering around him?" Artemis asked in curiosity.
Azariah looked at the crowd and saw a familiar face that he knew. "That's Prince Josiah Astrid; he travels through nations and finds poor villages that don't receive proper health care. He's the eldest son of the king in Elpidia and also the next king for Elpidia; however, Prince Josiah declined to be a king."
"He wants to travel through nations and heal sicknesses that can't be cured with only medicine." Azariah continued, "He's the only royal in Elpidia that chose to master a single ability—healing. He mastered healing already; heck, he can even heal every sickness in the world in the blink of an eye."
He smiled while observing Josiah being a gentle prince as always, then looked at Artemis and said, "Oh, and cool fun fact, Prince Josiah is known as the Prince of Peace after preventing 3 wars that were all against the Kingdom of Rafi. Multiple nations are after this kingdom's resources because of greed; we are glad that Prince Josiah is here to protect us from time to time."
"If I have to be honest, he's the only one of the three princes that looks approachable, as, for his two younger brothers, even multiple nations fear them," Azariah chuckled as he signalled Artemis to continue on their walk.
Azariah was amazed at the facts that he learned from Artemis; he liked how interesting this world and its system were. Maybe he'd think about staying in this world for a while and learn more stories about its people and history.
"How powerful are his younger brothers in order for nations to fear them?"
"The strongest of them is the second oldest; his name is Prince Cressida—he's also the next heir to become the next ruler for Elpidia." Azariah stopped for a second, trying to remember some details about him.
"He's pretty overpowered, to be honest. As far as I remember, his most overpowered ability is Condition Manipulation; he has the ability to kill or heal anyone in a snap. His ability also applies to places or objects. He can also use the power on multiple targets at once, not just one. He can take down a whole army if he wants to, or maybe even break down a whole country to its demise," he explained.
Cressida seemed to be a pretty strong person. Artemis hoped he would never have to face that prince.
"Some people look down on Cressida, primarily because of his "feminine" appearance, which can fool a lot of people, which is what Cressida secretly wants since he can easily change his appearance," Azariah added. "If you find a short, pale male with blonde hair and blue eyes, you might want to run for your life. If he notices you, you're done."
"Why so?" Artemis asked.
"Cressida can immediately sense that you're not from this world—just try your best to not get near him," Azariah answered, giving him a look.
Artemis felt a shiver go up his spine. He imagined all the horrifying things Prince Cressida might do if he discovered Artemis was a time traveller. The worst-case scenario is that he'll most likely get killed or something.
"I used to be friends with Cressida until he betrayed me and ended our friendship in an instant," Azariah sighed, his voice brittle and as if he was about to cry anytime soon.
Artemis looked at Azariah with concern. "Can you tell me what happened?" he asked.
Azariah hesitated for a moment, not sure if he should reveal his past. Years have passed since the incident, but he is sure that he can trust Artemis since he doesn't sense any bad intentions from him.
"...I lied to you, my real name is Ophir—I said my hometown was Elpidia, right? The real reason I'm here in this village is that I'm hiding from the royals in Elpidia, especially from Cressida," Azariah revealed, finally telling the truth to Artemis.
Artemis smiled gently. "I'm glad you can trust me to tell me information like that—but could you tell me why you're hiding from the royals?" he asked.
"Other telekinesis users have a limit to the weight they can move, whereas I have no limit to what I can control. In addition to moving objects, I can also make them teleport from one place to another; this is known as psychokinesis ability." Azariah added, "Because of this powerful ability, I was considered a threat to the Kingdom of Hope."
"All abilities in this world are randomised by fate," Azariah sighed, "only royals can master the ability given to them, but for commoners like me, mastery of our abilities is completely randomised."
Artemis was saddened by Azariah's current issue. He was being hunted down because of the ability that was gifted to him. Azariah didn't even want the ability he has now.
~~~
Josiah rushed through the corridors of the castle, trying to find where Ophir was.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Ophir just received his ability. His ability was considered too powerful by his mother, the queen of Elpidia.
Ophir is still clueless about his misfortune fate that soon happens
Josiah overheard his parents discussing seizing Ophir's gemstone—but that's not the only problem. Josiah has witnessed how cruel his mother is when she steals someone else's gemstone; she thinks that seizing it is not enough—she kills the user immediately after taking it.
He finally found Ophir in the big living room, sitting on one of the couches and staring at his gemstone. He is absolutely astounded at its beauty; he hasn't held one until today.
Josiah rushed to Ophir. "You need to leave now, this instant. Cressida is after you—including my parents. I... I have no time to explain, but you must leave Elpidia now," he said, clearly stressed.
"What do you mean? Cressida would never attack me," Ophir argued, confused.
"My mom is controlling Cressida and Osiris, except for me, because I'm immune to her mind control; they're no longer themselves. She's planning to use my brothers as killing machines for her military; I have no idea why she's doing this to her own children—everything happened too quickly," Josiah explained in a rush.
"I managed to open a part of the barrier around Elpidia," Josiah added as he held one of Ophir's shoulders. "There's a small opening at the very top of this barrier; try to get there using your bird form. My daughter is waiting there; she'll guide you to your hiding spot."
As Ophir was about to escape, he saw Cressida's silhouette approaching the two. Cressida's smile, which used to never leave his face, was now gone. Cressida's aura appeared fearsome—Ophir no longer recognised his old friend.
His bright blue eyes don't show any emotions anymore. He looks a lot more like a robot than a human.
"Older Brother, I see that you betrayed Elpidia. Are you really trying to help a threat?" Cressida scoffed as he held out his staff where his gemstone was found, pointing it at the two.
Josiah let go of Ophir's shoulder as one of his earrings with his gemstone glowed bright yellow.
A golden, translucent barrier covered the two. "Don't even think about using your ability on us; it will backfire on you if you do so," Josiah replied, glaring at his younger brother.
Cressida glared back at Josiah as he lowered his staff. "Interesting: you managed to duplicate my barrier ability. No wonder you're worthy of becoming Elpidia's next ruler," he chuckled.
"Unfortunately, our parents have disowned you. You're no longer the next king, and that will make me the new heir to the throne. Isn't it nice?" Cressida bragged, an evil smile forming on his face.
"You should've been obedient to Mother, but instead you talked back to her because you opposed her order and called her merciless towards commoners. Stop trying to be different from the royal family; you're making a fool out of yourself," Cressida continued on.
"I have no regrets about protecting those who need it," Josiah said as the gemstone in his earrings glowed once again.
A big symbol appeared on the floor, making Cressida look down at the floor to see a circle drawn on his part.
"Save us, Saviour Michael," Josiah began, the symbol glowing a bright blue from his words.
Without warning, the invisible barrier that Cressida secretly had around him suddenly broke. Then, three sharp swords appeared above Cressida, all of them pointing directly at Cressida.
Ophir's eyes widened when he realised that Josiah was about to kill Cressida without mercy, "What are you doing!? Why are you suddenly trying to kill Cressida!?" Ophir yelled at Josiah.
"That's because... the Cressida in front of us is a clone of him. The real Cressida never took off his precious crown." The clone disintegrated into dust.
Suddenly, they heard a person clapping, walking inside the room. "Such a wonderful performance, brother!" the person said sarcastically with an evil smile.
The real Cressida walked towards them, his white cloak fluttering in the wind as he walked. "You've grown stronger now, Josiah," Cressida added, breaking down the barrier that had surrounded Josiah and Ophir.
"You two have no escape. I shall bring your heads to mother," Cressida said while he pointed his staff at the two, the gemstone glowing a bright red.
"Not unless I get them first!" yelled a young female as the large windows were shattered by large stems that grabbed Josiah and Ophir by their waists and took them out of the castle immediately.
Cressida's eyes twitched from annoyance because they were taken before he could do it first.
He yelled one last thing before they vanished.
"Curse that child!"
—
The young female took the two on top of the barrier, still holding them using the stems that were coming out of her body. Ophir got a clear look at the girl—it was Josiah's only daughter, Diantha, the youngest person to ever receive a gemstone of her own.
Diantha had long blonde hair and hazel-coloured eyes; she wore a pale yellow, lavish dress with stunning butterflies around the chest part.
"We can fly to the Kingdom of Rafi; you'll be staying there for a while. You have to stay there until I can take out the mind control from Cressida and Osiris," Josiah said.
"How about us, father?" Diantha asked Josiah.
Josiah thought for a while until he thought of a plan. "You like exploring, right?" he asked.
Diantha's eyes shone with excitement. "Oooooh! Does that mean we're no longer stuck within Elpidia's castle, right? We can finally wander around the world!" she said happily.
Josiah noticed that Ophir was in deep thought. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Does this mean I have to hide from the royals of Elpidia from now on?" Ophir asked, a frown forming on his face.
Ophir has grown fond of Cressida. Ever since Cressida found Ophir, the two have been friends for years. Ophir wouldn't have guessed that Cressida would be after him. Ophir can't blame him, since Cressida is under his mother's spell now.
"You have to," Josiah assured, "but don't worry, I'll try to find ways to lift the curse from my brothers."
~~~
Diantha:
Diantha: [https://img.wattpad.com/4d3823b009a6004a3724a9aea7edc0d3c9fcb247/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f70566638727857653569624765773d3d2d313238353135303735342e313732363333653035353538316333323737303036333733383839372e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Josiah:
Cressida: [https://img.wattpad.com/dfb6be009c7a6286d6c86fc3f87af4b551223bf0/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f5f7355574c774c764d38497750513d3d2d313238353135303735342e3137323633336532323737306633333137383038323530393135312e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Cressida:
Cressida: [https://img.wattpad.com/6c5946aef0a8dbb2cbc05c31254faafb99bdbf25/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f51362d6e6771454f7033797031673d3d2d313238353135303735342e313732363361376130336661666237663439373130343631373730352e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
~~~
Note: Diantha is not Josiah's biological daughter