It was the year seventeen hundred and twenty-one. The young princess, dressed in blue and red, watched with gleaming green eyes as her blond hair fluttered in the wind. The young princess who was currently at the age of ten, gazed upon the battlegrounds of her three brothers. Prince Leighton was the youngest of the three, at the age of six. The youngest prince was dressed in nothing but his formal attire. Whilst his older brothers, the second and first princes, Charles and Ashton, fought with light armor and helms. A duo that seemed on par in terms of strength, despite the second being twelve in age, and the first being thirteen. All three in which, were equipped with wooden swords for a bit of practice on the open fields of grain and plants, with the sun shining bright up high.
"Sister! Why don't you come and join us?" Said the youngest of the princes, cheerful as ever, as he approached his sister who sat in the flowery garden next to an aged tree. "Come now Leighton, what did I tell you about ruining my garden? Don't come near me, I detest this barbaric behavior of yours..." Said Silvia, who pouted and took out a book from her satchel while Leighton continued to approach. "I'd rather have you as a knight than some uneducated barbarian. Here... Why, I have just the book to occupy that little mind of yours..." Leighton sat next to his sister, as Silvia opened the book and began to read the first page. "Long ago... There was a dazzling knight that came to Sythria by sea." The page depicted a knight on a horse, galloping on harsh waters, through raging winds and thunderous storms. "The knight came upon the blighted land and saw not one soul upon it." Silvia flipped the next page, as her brother watched intently.
"The knight was disheartened upon seeing the land so barren and dead, thus did he shed his blood on the soil and bloomed life upon the once breathless dust and sand." The page depicted the knight unmounting his horse, and then cutting himself with his sword with blood that brought forth a new oasis and then fertile soil. "The knight, however, was not alone in this realm..." Silvia frowned as she flipped the page, which depicted an unimaginable being of metal descending from the sky to challenge the knight. "It was known as the Constellation, an entity of the stars that ruled the infinite cosmos... And with it, came its metallic legions." Leighton shivered and held Silvia by her arm, fear and excitement gripping his heart.
The new page depicted an enormous army of metal stars, the knight alongside his steed was all but surrounded. The bright sun shined down on the land, and a battle ensued. "The legions were relentless..." Silvia added. "Their weapons of war rained flames of blue and rays of light that burned all that was. The knight all but faltered." Silvia flipped to another page, this time one that depicted an angel with six wings shielding the knight from the falling stars. "That was when the goddess came. Her radiance and love healed the land and the knight, and so did her angels came forth before the great metallic legions of the stars..."
Silvia closed the book as she turned to Leighton and pressed his nose with her finger. She chuckled and smiled. "And that's enough for today, little brother." Leighton began frowning slightly, whilst his sister merely smiled upon his unsatisfied state. "Worry not dear Leighton, we'll finish this due morrow soon." Silvia chuckled once more, although her knowledge of a mere book might save her one day.
The two rose to their feet and gazed upon the horizon. There, a grand city stood tall and proud against the mighty sun, reflecting its myriad rays of light. "Your majesties Princess Silvia, Prince Leighton..." A mounted silver knight approached close to the royals, his horse galloping on approach before standing just shy of the garden of flowers. The knight bowed and nodded as he pressed his chest. "Hail! Her eminence the empress desires your presence at once your majesties..." The knight bowed again. "...With due haste I'm afraid. I fear a great threat looms overhead... I was instructed to take you two to safety, come, let us not dally any longer here." Silvia turned to face the open fields where her older brothers once dueled, only to bear witness to a rider already off in the distance with her older siblings on their way to the city.
Without a word, Silvia nodded as she mounted the horse after her little brother. The knight was swift to ride his steed through the fields of grain and plants. Through an open dirt road where many once crossed and passed. "Nearly there your majesties, just a little longer..." The once-clear skies became clouded as the knight made his way past the long overlaying bridges of stone, crossing rivers and small huts before reaching the gates of the grand city known as August, the capital city of Vnerman. There, Empress Aurelia stood and waited as she embraced her two eldest children in her loving arms.
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"Hail, grand empress..." The knight lowered his head as Silvia and Leighton immediately dismounted to embrace their mother. The young empress lowered herself to embrace her youngest children with smiles of joy and relief. "I missed you... My sweetest stars." Aurelia continued to embrace her children for a moment before standing and releasing her gentle hold over her young children.
Aurelia's blue and white mixed hair fluttered gently against the winds that howled with trepidation of impending chaos that would soon incur. The young empress, with her gleaming blue eyes, gazed upon her children once more before leading them inside the city, where thousands upon thousands of knights stood in line. All of them, both young and old, were willing to defend their empress and all the heirs to the imperial throne.
The storm above grew restless, clouds blackened as the heavy rains intensified upon the thunderous calls of lighting that struck the royal palace towers. Vnerman knights raised their shields above the Vnerman royalty as they made their way into the imperial palace moments later. "Steward..." Aurelia called out, and a noble warrior approached. "Please guide my children to safe quarters, I must attend to urgent matters with the emperor..." The steward bowed before turning to the heirs. "By your will your majesty." Silvia looked up at her mother with uneasy eyes as she followed the steward through the halls of the palace. Looking back, Aurelia gave a knowing nod to her daughter and soon entered the throneroom of the palace. "I'll be with you, always..." She whispered.
Whilst walking through the halls, Leighton clutched the arms of his sister dearly. His eyes darted across the glass windows and out into the storm, heavy breaths accompanied by lingering fears as lightning struck the palace roof. Accompanied by beastly thunder that roared and shook the palace interiors. Candlelights flickered as they held on against the hushed winds that threatened to extinguish them whole.
Charles, unnerved by the sudden exterior threats, stuck close to Ashton, who took notice of the mysterious storm that threatened the balance of order. "This storm..." Ashton began. "It reeks of foul play." Ashton turned to the steward, who pressed on through the empty halls in a confident manner, unyielding to the machinations up in their proverbial aspects of chaos and decadence of envisioned calamities. "...Steward..." Ashton prodded. "Mayhaps you may shed light upon the matter...? All these spoken rumors of steel legions from beyond the heavens troubles me so. Do these rumors bear any semblance of weight? Or perhaps they may be facts from dubious fiction...? Do enlighten me." The steward scoffed and shook his head.
"It matters not my prince... The gods shall defend the righteous, as they have done so for the eons beyond time and again." The steward answered with religious fervor. His eyes determined at the gods' defense of Vnerman, ever so true to his beliefs. "We are here..." The steward approached the room marked by silver swords. He reached out and opened the doors for the young royalty to enter, his eyes scanned the room before turning to the four before him. "...Have a pleasant day, your majesties." The four royals, armed with determination, all nodded as the steward left them to their own devices. A mistake that they would soon suffer to regret.
The decorated room was lavish yet provided all the necessary needs for entertainment and sustenance. Bookshelves and furniture decorated the walls and corners, a secured fireplace sat idly at the end of the room, and four beds adjacent to one another took all the remaining space that was readily available.
The siblings shared glances before taking the beds of their choosing. Leighton hopped onto his bed like a weary little bear and nestled himself beneath the blankets of his temporary, but humble abode. "Great..." Charles began. "Now we're stuck in a room with nothing but ourselves to entertain..." Charles threw himself on his bed whilst his older brother Ashton crossed his arms and stood by the fireplace. "...Remain steady. There are enough provisions in this room to last us a week, this storm is but an unfair weather gone awry... It shall come to pass soon enough." Ashton assured his brother, his eyes slowly closing to rest as Silvia sat down on the floor next to her bedside. Yet little did they know, chaos was abound.
Eyes of glass and cold steel glowed, piercing silver blades laid dormant, metallic armor writhed and sprung to life, and metal wings arose to take flight. The machine awoke to new lands from beyond the skies. Its visors gleamed with insight and prowess, ever so silent, yet ever deadly. "...Identify." Said a mechanical voice and the machine answered. But it was not a machine, but something far, far more powerful. "Primogenitor..."