H I S T O R Y
I come from a royal lineage so I was raised with a silver spoon and the manners you'd expect of royalty. My dad's got some hidden royal blood in him (something about some dude name Arthur... I think?) and my mom claims we've got ties to some of the pharaohs of old. Kinda neat, right?!
As expected, I was put through some rigorous training exercises to hone my skills and make me a fine little prince. I was born an only child (I was supposed to have an older brother but he was a miscarriage). With the perks of being an only child, I was given the opportunity to do whatever I wanted as long as I kept up my lessons and continued to set a stunning example.
Heh, if only I knew what these lessons would do. The kind of role they'd play in my future....
At 10 years old, my initiation started. I was thrown into exam after exam. And it wasn't just me. There were 100 other kids competing too. None of us knew why were were competing but what we did know is that if we failed, it could mean our heads. So we all tried our damn hardest.
When we got to a part of the test that asked us to pick any one item in the room, I was taken aback. What kind of question was this? What were they looking to discover about me?
I spent at least 15 minutes looking over every item in that room. And the more I did, the more I realized, there was nothing there that really attracted me. Everything had a materialistic value -- wealth, power, fame, knowledge, sex. I didn't want any of that. I spent my whole life alone. It was just me, the maids, teachers, and my parents. I'd never had a friend so that's what I desired most. I just... I just wanted a friend.
So I turned to the exam proctors and asked if there was more. They were confused and asked me what more I could want.
I explained that I didn't need power, fame, fortune, or lust. That I didn't seek to conquer the world. That I didn't need those type of materialistic things. That what I really wanted was a friend. Someone whose bonds would run deep with me. Someone I could trust and someone who would trust me right back.
As I said that, I saw my parent's eyes grow wide. They had tried to instill in me the importance of power and fame. But I never wanted that. I wanted something more innocent, something pure. A friend.
I couldn't tell if they were mad or happy. But it didn't matter. For before I could ask, I was shuffled into another room. In this room, there were five men with masks on their faces. Each bowing before me. I was confused so I turned to the protector. He told me to select one. I didn't quite understand so I asked him to explain. Had I failed?
"No, young prince. You have seen past the illusions in this world. You have the true heart of a prince. You see the compassion that others bury. As such, you have the honor and privilege of selecting your own knight. He will serve you for all eternity. Not just as your blade and shield but also, as you wished, your friend."
Tears ran down my face. I had passed and not just a little bit, but with flying colors!
I-I don't know what happened next for the next thing I knew, I was losing my breath. I was falling to the floor. I saw red, blood.
Was I being killed? Had I actually failed?
When I awoke, I was sitting in a bloodbath. From wall to wall were the lifeless corpses of my fellow peers as well as the teachers and parents. I was mortified. What had happened? And why was I the only one alive?
No, wait. There was a man. No, a boy... he was standing in the middle of the room. Soaking from head to toe in blood.
His outfit! It was familiar! He was one of the knights I could have selected.
"You have nothing to fear, my lord." I recall him saying to me with the calmest of tones.
I didn't understand what was happening and, me being me, started to cry. Perhaps I was too scared to move, but when this knight approached me, I didn't try to run. Instead, I waited for the cold kiss of death to great me.
But I didn't get that. Instead, I felt warmth. An embrace. And his soft sobbing.
He was apologizing. He kept telling me he didn't have a choice. That he couldn't let me die. That as his true prince, he would stop anyone who wanted to harm me. He explained that this exam was a slaughtering grounds. That no one ever lived, but the parents and the teachers. And if a student did live, they'd become corrupt. This place was a breeding ground for wicked intentions.
"What's your name?" I remember asking him while he wiped away my tears.
"Fritz Germain, my lord."
"F-Fritz?" I can vividly recall the sad look in his eyes. "W-will you please be my friend?"
His smile made me realize that I'd escaped a dark future. That I wasn't going to be a pawn of some dark agenda. That we'd survived. That we'd fight whatever evil crossed our paths.
"Of course," his smile would give me the strength to stand up. I reported everything to the police and both Fritz and I were pardoned.
As I was only 10, I had to be given to someone. That someone happened to be Fritz's family. They accepted me with open arms. They were kind, soft, gentle. They were everything I wanted in parents and then some.
I've been living with them ever since. It's just be me, Fritz, and his family. They're nice. They make me feel like I belong. And, best of all, they keep my secret. Just like I keep theirs. I had no idea but Fritz came from a long line of silent guardians. They were hunters of the darkness. They are the heroes in the darkest times.
And they did all this to keep my ends from seeing evil. To keep me from losing my light. To keep me blooming and blossoming, as if I were a rare flower.
They are my everything and I'd go to the end of the earth to protect them.
Refreshing Feed...
