CHAPTER 2
TALES OF THE PRINCE
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“Viewers, East Java capital city is paralyzed after experiencing the Portal Break three weeks ago. 230 thousand civilians have been killed, and material losses are estimated to have exceeded tens of billions of dollars. The United Nations stated that the disaster was the biggest portal break in 25 years. The death toll ...”
Listening the news, a muscular, 189cm (6'2") tall man shaved his hair. Small threads of new-grown silver hair fell into the sink. He rubbed both side of his head and examined his military undercut style. His lips smiled in satisfaction while his emerald-like pupils blinked slowly. Turning off the electric shaver, he covered his silver hair with black polish, as well his pupils with contact lenses.
“Hurry up, pretty boy!” A woman knocked the door.
“Naked here. Give me a second.”
Varg left the bathroom shirtless, wearing regular camo pants and a pair of flip-flops. A hot-looking female captain waited for him with a smile on her lips. Captain Nadine, the 37-year-old tactical communication officer, scanned Varg's skin, which had decorated tattoos, body hairs, and horrible scars that made everyone wonder if he had been hit by a train or something. He looked so hot in her eyes.
“Damn, you're a real hunk.”
“Yes I am. Shall we go now, ma'am? The polish isn't dry yet. Is my hair color too eye-catching?”
“Silver hair with no wrinkles seems like a 90% off bra at a thrift store.”
“You have a problem?”
Captain Nadine laughed at Varg's pouted face. Strolling down Sector 3, the female captain could not shake her amazement at a non-human beside her. Varg was an immigrant from another world with 99% similarity to a human, even his DNA. He came to earth seven years ago and, undoubtedly, made a fool of everyone's eyes if he didn't show his silver hair color, eyes, and Celtic-like name.
”You know what? Only about two percent human on earth have natural green eyes like yours. Mostly European. Why are you hiding it?”
“Too striking among Asian.”
“Your face doesn't look Asian, though. Seems like Caucasian, Asian, Arabic, and Malayan combined.” The female officer stopped walking, glancing at Varg's ears, which were decorated with obvious cutting marks and stitches. “Why did you cut it?”
“Pain in the ass if I wore a head set. Isn't it obvious?”
Captain Nadine raised an eyebrow while examining Varg's appearance. No matter how she looked at him, he looked exactly like human.
“Don't get any closer, Ma'am. I can't hold myself against a beauty like you.”
“What a smooth talker.”
“Not as smooth as your lips. May I have it?”
The female officer bit her own lips when their conversation headed in a weird direction. Varg was so attractive that she had a hard time keeping her distance. Coincidentally, they stopped at Sector 3 residential avenue without any lamps or soldiers around. The situation was to good to taint a sacred military base with a scandal. However, when Varg's lips were getting closer, she put a finger in it and said, “Sure. You may get everything out of me with a simple marriage propos—
“Rejected.”
“What an asshole!”
“I ain't a simp.”
Captain Nadine rolled her eyes at another rejection. She continued her steps through a row of similarly shaped estates, all of which were painted green. Arriving at the official residence, she opened the door and saluted someone inside. A middle-aged man in black was waiting for them. He was the chief of the National Intelligence Agency, a heavy smoker, and a man of culture.
“Welcome, Your Royal Highness Jakel Varg del Valora.” Bowing, he put his hand on his chest like a noble from European middle age. “Counseling time, My Prince. Take a seat.”
***
Varg sat relaxedly on a sofa cushion with a tea cup, glancing around at a room he often visited. The immigration issues forced him to follow the mandatory report over and over. Tonight was the last day for those annoying routines. The Chief of the National Agency, on the other side, sat casually on the edge of the table with his lips full of smirks. He lit a clover cigar while acting like a friend.
“I can't see any difference between us, Your Royal Highness. Especially your knowledge. It's almost impossible for you to think like an earthling in the short time. You're like someone who was born here. What was going on?”
“Magic. Someone has installed earth's common sense, language and basic knowledge, here.” Varg tapped his own head.
“Your DNA is 99% human, though.”
“Resurrection. You won't be able to comprehend it.” Varg's statement was so firm and clear that the chief kept nodding.
“Whatever, Our deal will end today, anyway.”
“So, you guys will stop exploiting me, huh?”
The chief laughed amusedly. “We called it symbiotic mutualism, my prince. Your kingdom got what you wanted, and my country benefited. We even took care of the 376 women you slept with. Unluckily, no one was pregnant.”
“Unluckily?”
“I mean, luckily. Please don't imagine something wild. We won't take your offspring as an experimental subject. Woooo, scary.”
Varg rolled his eyes. He drank a jasmine tea and sat with an elegant manner. “Alright, Mr. Demian. Stop beating around the bush. Give me the good news.”
The man in black didn't answer immediately. He handed over a document for the prince to read. “You're allowed to back to your homeland.”
“Finally, you did the right thing.” Varg seemed pleasing with the results he waited for years. He read all documents with sparkling eyes while gesturing “OK” sign with his hand. Agreement was an agreement, after all. His deeds to Indonesian Armed Forces were more than enough to gain a sweet, delicious fruit.
The chief of the National Intelligence Agency, on the other hand, kept making the office room into a misty forest. He lit another clove cigar, while the last one remained burning in the ashtray. As if the smoke represented every single thing he thought. In the 25 years since the new era began, he had witnessed so many unexplainable things, like monsters, inter-dimensional portals, and exotic creatures, especially a royal prince before him. Jakel Varg del Valora's oddity never stopped dancing in his mind.
“Resurrection ritual?” He recalled something the prince mentioned before. “You have died?”
“Yes.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“How has it brought you alive? And why are your genetic traits so close to ours?”
Varg giggled at a secret that he had always kept in the dark.
“You wanna know, Mr. Demian?”
***
Once upon a time, in the palace of the World Tree, a brave king was in mourning.
“Ooo Yggdrasil, why have you forsaken us? Why did you take my son?”
A thin man lay lifeless on a rattan bed. The prince exhaled his last breath with a smile and tears. An ancient kingdom faced a bitter future. At 114 years old, the next king, Jakel Varg del Valora, had been declared dead.
“Ooo, your royal highness, you're too young to meet Yggdrasil. Our kingdom will be doomed without an heir. Your Majesty, what should we do?”
“We have no choice. Summon the witch.”
The elder was taken aback. For the first time in 20,000 years, the current king made a bad decision. Valora Kingdom was in such a thin spot that he chose to commit a sin. Not long after, the most powerful witch on the entire continent arrived. She was the only hope for the Valoran to survive. Twenty millennia of their history must be preserved. The prince had to be resurrected.
“But it won't be easy, Your Majesty,” said the witch, showing her grin that pushed everyone to uneasiness. “Bringing the dead back to life is beyond taboo. This ceremony is forbidden by Yggdrasil. I'd permanently lose most of my prana after ceremony.”
“I'll pay with anything. Bring my son back. I'd rather be a sinner for the sake of Valora.”
A wicked grin on her lips brought the king back to his senses. The witch agreed to perform the ceremony with an outrageous condition. The king's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't believe what he saw when the witch brought the corpse of a hero of the gods.
“Have you lost your mind? You want to taint our sacred blood?”
“The gods have sent this disgusting creature into our world. They blessed the heroes with uncomparable magic. Did you see what they did? This war had set to stone, My King. Our prince's new life will be a spearhead for our revenge.”
“That's more taboo than bringing the dead back to life! Yggdrasil will not approve it! Do you want to make my son an evil like you?”
“Yes. Valora doesn't need a conservative king like you. Do you know why humans conquer everything? Because they used their brains. They have technology. And the civilization behind the portal is a thousand years ahead of humans in our world. I want to send my prince there.”
The king trembled in rage. He just realized that the witch exploited his mourning as an opportunity to seek revenge. And the revenge was directed at the heroes of the gods, a group of humans who irronically came from a world without faith.
Who the hell are they?
Their appearance resembled that of the human race. However, most of them had black hair and black eyes. They came into this world 18 years ago, invited by the gods and blessed with more magical capabilities and physical strength than normal humans. Despite being called heroes from heaven, they often referred to themselves as Walkers and called their homeland the earth. The witch hated them and could not stay still with their arrogance.
At first, the hero of the gods showed a pacifist nature, recalling their civilization as a world free of war and unbelievable public order. They would never kill anyone because they had been educated not to do so. However, after living so long in this world, they changed. Their attitude became disgusting. They didn't know what honor was, lived in hypocrisy, and considered the civilizations of this world as toys. They exploited the power of the gods to invade. The heroes created nothing but destruction. To make matters worse, they were the ones who murdered the prince. Even the king knew that his son had been poisoned.
“You may call me evil, My King. But you know who the real evils are.”
“Will he remain my son after this?”
“Yes. Half of his body and mind might belong to a human. But his soul remains our son. Accept the terms, Your Majesty.”
The king had no choice but to agree. Valora needed a new wind of change. In the end, he witnessed the resurrection ceremony, which turned out to be quite heinous. The crown prince became someone else. He opened his beautiful green eyes and underwent his sacred mission to learn their enemy's civilization.
“Tadaaaa! And here I am, Mr. Demian.”
After hearing Varg's story, smoke came out of Demian's ears.
“Are you kidding me!”
***
Both the chief of the National Intelligence Agency and Captain Nadine gawked in shock. The Varg back story sounded ridiculous to comprehend. No matter how absurd the tales of magic they often heard, resurrection was out of the question.
“She brought you to life?” Captain Nadine yelled, unbelieving what she heard.
“Yes. And she lost 90% of her magic power to revive me. Damn, she's a real deal.”
“And she combined your body like a Russian mechanic with a rusty cold-era tank?”
“You have a problem with me, huh?” Varg took her words personally.
“C'mon, pretty boy. I'm curious.”
The prince remained pouting over being compared to an old tank. He felt humiliated because Captain Nadine told the truth. Nevertheless, her genuine curiosity made him put aside his personal feelings.
“Only walkers are able to pass through the portal. If she hadn't combined me with a walker's body, I wouldn't be able to go back to my homeland.”
The hot-looking female officer gaped in amazement. As a Red Zone's company commander, she understood that otherworldly beings had only one-way tickets to the earth. They could enter, but not come back. Having a walker's body was a believable story for the prince.
“So, your race is different from ours? I mean, physically?”
“Yes, Ma'am. You may call me an elf. Elven race is similar to what you have seen in fantasy medieval movies. Hollywood did a great job depicting us. Long ears, long live and long lasting good lookings. Damn, I'm a real hunk.”
Captain Nadine almost threw up at the prince's narcissistic remarks. “What don't we know about elves?”
“Low testosterone level. Male elves have no facial or body hair. And their bone and muscle structure are similar to female counterpart. Our gender is hard to tell. Obviously, with lower testosterone, we have problems with fertility and sex drive. Our demographic number has barely increased while humans keep multiplying like plankton. This is our curse as a long-lived species.”
Ironically, Varg spoke while rubbing his freshly shaved beard and mustache. Sometimes he flexed his muscles while saying that his race was like a bunch of vegetables. No matter how everyone looked at him, Varg had a ridiculously high testosterone level, even compared to humans. Everything he said was contradictory. As someone who was close to him, Captain Nadine had a hard time holding back her urge to argue.
“So, with a low testosterone level, elves's romantic lives are close to platonic, huh?”
Varg snapped his finger at Captain Nadine's response. “Affirmative, Ma’am. Elves are disgustingly romantic creatures. My people are total simps. We have been loyal to our spouses for hundreds of years.”
“Loyal, my ass. I lost count of how many women you brought to the bed. Oh my god! How did a romantic creature become an asshole like you?”
“You have a problem with me?”
“Yes!”
While they acted like a couple in their teens, Demian lost himself in his thoughts. He tried to get rid of the ridiculous phenomenon in his mind and resumed his job. The military exchange, a small agreement between the Indonesian government and the prince, was the main reason he came to the Red Zone. Varg had taught the Indonesian Armed Forces to extract crystal in exchange for modern military knowledge and training. In the end, after four years of joining military, Varg became the most accomplished elite operator in both Combat Reconnaissance and the DOME.
“So, you're ready to be a king?”
“Yes. My dad have promised me to give his throne. Today is my last day on earth.”
“Will you come back to earth?”
“Of course. You've promised me citizenship anyway. I will be back to learn more about your civilization and apply it to developing my kingdom.”
Demian was silent for a moment as possibilities danced in his mind. Of course, teaching modern military and firearms for a future king in the world with 12th-century civilization had to be kept in the dark. The United Nations Office of Ethereal Management and Security would not be happy to hear it. To make matter worse, Varg had stated that every single thing he learned from earth would not be used for peace.
“Yes. I will blow their castles out with explosives and pop their head with guns.”
”Are you going to wage a war?”
“Why not? You can't stop me. The only fate for Walker is death.”
An agreement was an agreement. He had to let the prince go back to his world and let him do whatever he wanted in his world. Including killing earthlings who stayed there. However, as he was about to shake his hand, his phone rang. Demian's expression changed when his intelligence network told him the bad news.
“I think you should leave immediately.”
“Why?”
“Your kingdom is at war.”