The Crimson Prince Awakening - v3 Chapter 75

Will approached the doorway leading into the castle. Since he already had his fun, he stopped right before they reached the pair of knights guarding the castle.

Maya raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Are you going to have fun with these guys as well?” She pointed at the guards who were just beyond earshot.

“Unfortunately the time for games is over.” Will saif seriously. Maya was taken aback. For almost an hour, Will had been so carefree, much like he used to be. Now it seemed as though he were a man on a mission.

“The real challenge starts here, Maya.” Will said calmly as he put his hand over his cross. Within a blink of an eye, the cross burned white-hot before a flash of light engulfed him. When he emerged, he wore a full suit of obsidian black armor bearing his family crest on the brėȧst plate and back. He wore no helmet, and two swords were attached on his belt. The one on the left was his usual ruby pommeled blade, while the one on the right was the new clear opal gemmed pommel.

Maya’s eyes widened as she saw the transformation. “Just what are you capable of now?” Her gaze followed his back as he moved towards the guards who immediately opened the doors.

Maya followed behind as Will made his way to the throne room. By now, he knew most twists and turns within the castle, seeing as though even while he was in astral form, he still enjoyed exploring.

“Presenting Prince William Ragnos, the Second of his name!” The last set of guards announced as they opened the door to the throne room.

Will entered along with Maya. They slowly made it towards the throne where the king waited patiently.

“William my boy!” King Ragnos bellowed from his throne while Will was still half way. “About time you come to see your old man!” Though his tone was delighted, Will could pick up a slight annoyance. ‘I guess he isn’t used to being kept waiting.’ Will thought as he reached his father.

“Sorry,” he said as he scratched his head sheepishly. It was harder to play innocent when he wore such powerful looking armor. “I was in bed for so long, I needed to stretch my limbs.”

King Ragnos nodded his understanding. “Fouteen months is quite a while to be kept bedridden.” He descended the throne and took a better look at his son. “That’s quite the armor you have.” He said as his eyes roamed the glistening black plates. His eyes then roamed to the swords and stayed on his original blade. “Is all of this from your lineage cross?”

“I’ve been training during my coma,” Will said. “There are many things I am capable of now.” His eyes grew serious once more. “There’s a great deal that I’ve learned from training with our patron deity, and much I need to pass on to you.”

The king furrowed his brows slightly. He was more than happy to have his son back. He knew Ragnos had much to teach him within such a short time, yet the results were as clear as day.

“Tell me what our God Ragnos wishes to pass on.”

The king’s voice sounded guarded to Will, almost as if he knew some of what was going to be said.

“Firstly,” Will raised a plated finger. “There is much going on outside of the kingdom that needs to be addressed.” He wasn’t going to go into full details about what Ragnos said, first he had a few issues he had to work out. “There has been slavery going on outside these walls for far too long. Before I came to you, I had gotten rid of a large scale slave operation. Now most of the former slaves are employed building the city outside these walls. Their previous slave trader is now someone who works with them.” Will didn’t take his eyes off of his father. The atmosphere was uncomfortable enough that even Maya looked away.

“Slavery is not a way to line anyone’s pockets anymore. Any trade posts you know must be given to me within a month. I will go there myself to disband them and give them jobs that can earn them an honest living.”

The king nodded while Will went into detail on what the former slaves would be doing. He wanted each slave to be given at least fifty silver a head to make up for the wrongful detainment they had endured. Will knew that his father had been out of the picture for more than half of his childhood. He was either confined to his room, or locked in the dungeon. Though Will knew what had happened to him, he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed in how the kingdom had been run up until he returned.

“Secondly,” Will raised a second finger. “Leo has been bringing over equipment from our world and figuring out ways to convert aura into energy. I’m sure he’s a lot further in his studies than I can guess.” Will thought of the dirt roads outside of the city. While the castle and surrounding streets had cobblestone roads, he knew that more than a dozen carriages a day got stuck in the mud from previous rainfalls. “I plan on paving the roads outside the kingdom and then on to our neighbors should they request it. No more rain washing the roads away. We will make the roads safer to travel in all seasons.”

“Next business is that of the knights.” He brought his hand down and instead released his aura, allowing the armor and weapons to regain the form of the cross on his ċhėst. He stood in front of the king in a ragged and destroyed white shirt and blue jeans. His feet would have been cold underneath for lack of shoes against the stone floor, but he allowed his inner flame to keep him heated. “Whether someone looks like me,” he pointed towards his shirt. “Or a noble, none of your knights are to look down upon any who enter the gate. If our guests do not show hostility, they shouldn’t be greeted by it either.”

Will was mostly stalling at this point, he knew the most difficult part of the conversation was coming up next. He knew what needed to be said, yet he hesitated. The moment was long enough for the king to notice something was wrong. “William.” He said in a fatherly tone. “Whatever it is you are having a hard time telling me, know that I hold no grudge against you for what Ragnos has sent you here to say.”

“The next topic is of hierarchy.” He couldn’t look his father in they eyes, yet he couldn’t show shame, so he looked at the crown which sat atop the king’s head. “I cannot be the next king of Ebonhart.” He said quickly. “We need to find a new heir to the throne,”

The room stayed quiet for some time. Will knew it would take his father some time to process this piece of information.

“Why?” King Ragnos asked softly after a few minutes. “Why would Ragnos take the throne away from his own bloodline?” Will could see that his father was close to shock. His eyes were wide but not out of anger. All color drained from his face as he slumped in the throne. “We have been rulers of this kingdom for hundreds upon hundreds of years.”

“That’s the problem, father.” Will said softly, his business tone was completely wiped out from the look on the king’s face. “We were never meant to rule a kingdom.”

“How dare you!” King Ragnos bellowed out to his son. “Tell that to my father, and his father and his all the way back to the start of the kingdom! Tell that to Cainus!” The ashen color of his face turned to red within the span of seconds as he descended the throne. “You were meant to be a King, William!” He produced a crimson and gold flame within the palm of his hand and showed it to Will. “You have the King’s Flame! You were meant for this throne since you were born! You don’t understand son, and that’s okay! You were taken at a very early age, before we could start your education.” King Ragnos pleaded with his son, his eyes still wide, yet his face lost its color once more.

“No, father.” Will dawned his armor and swords once more. He drew both swords and allowed the gold and crimson flame to shroud the ruby hilt blade while wind surrounded the opal. His armor turned to a shade of black which seemed to suck out all of the light around it. “I am the one who will be king of kings. I will be the one to ensure slavery doesn’t exist.”

Will’s father backed up as Will returned his swords to his sides. He then combined darkness, flame and wind into a new aura. A bright violet aura surrounded Will. It was not an element of power, it was power. “I am the one who will ensure a bright future for those who see nothing but darkness within this land.” He allowed his aura to dissipate as he looked at the king. “I am the heir not of Ebonhart, but of Ragnos himself.”

King Ragnos lowered himself to the stairway leading to the throne. He sat ashen faced on the step, looking at the powerful man who would be much more to the world than just some king.

“Father, I’m afraid I’m not done yet.” Will said with a sympathetic look on his face. He knew he had just put the king through much turmoil just by stating the changes that had to be made. He didn’t know how he would take the bad news. “We have a new threat.”

“Whatever it is,” King Ragnos said in a gravelly voice. “I’m sure you can deal with it. You have much more power than any wielder I have ever created.”

“That’s the problem.” Will said with a sigh. “I’m the threat.” He allowed the information to sink in slowly. After everything his father heard, Will was surprised the king had only a couple mental break downs within the past twenty minutes.

“How about you explain that one, Will.” Maya voiced from behind him. Will cursed to himself for not first explaining to Maya before meeting with his father.

“I’m also curious.” Will heard a voice from the edge of the throne room, outside of his peripheral vision.

Will turned to see Jonathan walking towards the throne. His face was unreadable, but Will could guess that he was thinking how impossible the statement his son just made was. “Please continue.” He said as he stood next to Maya.

“I’m not talking about me.” Will said, and he knew he was about to give someone in the room a headache. “I’m talking about me from a different reality. One where thousands of people a day are drained of their auras as well as their life essence. One where I wasn’t raised by the Earth Sage.” He looked at his dad.

“What are you talking about, William?” Jonathan asked as he looked into the eyes of his son. He couldn’t think of a world in which he hadn’t raised Will as his own. He also looked at the king, who was as still as a statue. “How could you be a threat anywhere?”

“The threat is in a mirror dimension.” Will said as he looked up at the ceiling. He couldn’t think of who he would rather look at while professing crimes he hadn’t committed. “The Crimson Prince of this other reality was raised in Ebonhart. His talents were too great for any instructor to help teach. Eventually he was corrupted by Aremesis.” He took a breath after letting it all out at once.

“The William of that timeline has long since captured and enslaved Ragnos. He is now feeding off the life energy of everyone in his reality, preparing to step into this reality and bring hell with him.