“Just tell us what we have to do to bring the sun back!” Luxthforthian shouted angrily, chowing down on a bowl of Starvore. “We did not just come here for nothing.”
Honestria stood calm and collected, his chest high as he glanced at both Luxthforthian and Bernadette, watching as both of them ate their respective dishes hungrily. The candles and sconces around them provided an accessible light source, allowing the three of them to see each other clearly without the Eternal Dark’s shadows mitigating any sort of sight. Honestria glared at the chandeliers above him, watching as the diamonds glistened off the light and refracted off of Luxforthian’s indigo eyes.
“Those eyes,” Honestria said, shocked. “I have seen those eyes before on the most gorgeous lady in all of the lands just sixteen years ago!”
“My mother’s eyes?” Luxthforthian inquired.
Honestria nodded. “The sword you wield is named after the previous owners of those eyes, or, well, ha! How do I put this?! The one who bequeathed them to you through genes.”
“Stuttering is a new normal for you, huh?” Bernadette commented, taking another bite of her Starvore.
Luxthforthian looked throughout his sack, failing to find anything of value. “I swore we brought all that rich people food with us, right Berny?”
“Some sort of Russian cheese from Sprarrow’s cold or something, huh?” Bernadette muffled, mouth full of food.
Honestria cleared his throat. “Anyways, the current dilemma with the sun’s lack of presence thereof is a tricky one that results in…sacrifice.”
“So I see,” Luxthforthian responded, wiping his mouth with his handkerchief. “Is it like the legends where I will actually carry the sun back over the moon’s head, or will it just be a lame prophecy ordeal?”
“Ahem! Will there be romance?” Bernadette asked, raising her finger and jutting out her two front teeth jokingly.
Honestria smacked his forehead in disapproval. “Now why would there be any romance between you two? I thought you both were just frie—”
Honestria stopped himself, then analyzed the two of them.
“Well, spit it out man!”
Luxthforthian looked inquisitive. “Yes, I am interested to hear what you have to say, Your Highness.”
Honestria hesitated as he felt their glances, stepping back to collect himself as either one of them slowly approached him with eager eyes. It was a difficult statement that he was about to utter, but he had no choice but to say it nonetheless. Notwithstanding the sheer amount of decay that would result in such a statement, Honestria cackled as he turned around to face the darkened underpass the three of them would have to walk through to reach the ruins of his castle.
“There lie four pivotal steps to bring the sun back,” Honestria said, turning to face them with a glare, his yellow eyes casting a steady gold. “The first one involves combat; fight the one whose darkness hurts the most. The second one revolves around duty; recite the five vows of kingsmanship and lead for a day in a kingdom of unfamiliarity. The third requires procreation; bed the one whom you hold affection to the most. The fourth and final needs sacrifice; hold the sun over the moon’s head, and awaken the world anew.”
Bernadette scoffed. “Wait a minute, why can’t you just do that? Why does Luxthforthian have to do all the things you or his father can do right now?”
“Only the sun himself can bring himself over the head of the moon in order to become the ascendant,” Honestria replied, stepping aside as Luxthforthian and Bernadette instinctively kept going. “This is the part where our journey together comes to an end.”
“You are just going to leave it to us to figure out what your message means?” Luxthforthian inquired, reaching for Hexarexachrona. “That is completely unfair.”
“It is entirely a fair ordeal, son of Cothbrenias.”
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“Stop with the formalities,” reprimanded Bernadette. “Luxthforthian’ll be fine without your company anyways.”
Honestria bowed to them both. “Your father would be proud of how far you have gotten yourself, Luxthforthian,” he said, standing back up again. “But it is your mother that would be held back from hugging you until she could no longer; her pride for you was always her strong suit. She loved you because you were her creation, and to her, there was no other way than to protect you in that village until you realized you were the one who had to do this.”
“I’m still boggled on why Cothbrenias has his kid go on a quest to protect his kingsmanship,” Bernadette muttered, placing a hand on Luxthforthian’s back as they continued to walk forward.
“Spararrow is expecting your arrival in a few days,” Honestria said calmly, crossing his arms as he watched their figures wane in the distance. “The five vows are in your keeping alone; do not let any one person safeguard what it is yours to give to the world in honesty and in truth.”
Luxthforthian turned to face Honestria. “Is Sprarrow a little less restrictive as you are?”
Honestria nodded with a smile, then turned back on them, his figure vanishing in the darkness of the unknown time of day.
Luxthforthian turned back and faced Bernadette, watching as she clicked her glowstick back on with a shake. The two of them had no idea what to expect on their journey together other than the cryptic clues left behind by Honestria, who they had no idea whether or not was a reliable source to prophesize anybody, especially Luxthforthian.
“You know what,” Bernadette paused, itching her ankle and swatting a mosquito off her leg. “I thought he wasn’t that bad of a guy if you analyze all the freakish commentary he tried to indoctrinate us into.”
Luxthforthian gave an unsure expression.
Bernadette rubbed his shoulder. “What’s wrong, Lux?”
“I just feel like all of this will turn out for the worst,” Luxthforthian sighed, tightening the satchel of Hexarexachrona around his chest and back. “I would like to call myself an optimistic person, but this whole ordeal has me worried.”
“Worried about what?”
“That all of this will be in vain,” he answered, leading the way for the two of them as they began walking through the darkened underpass. “I also researched all the kingdoms in Dale; so, in my perusal, I found that this is a natural landmark called Cavern Obsidian, the longest cavern in the world, which stretches fifteen miles.”
“Great,” Bernadette muttered. “You know how long that’ll take us to reach the other side?”
“A few days, maybe?” Luxthforthian responded, reaching into their shared sack to count the resources they brought, such as food and water.
Bernadette tracked his eyes to the sack of stuff they brought together. “How much do we have?”
“A bunch of Starvore, some canisters of food and water; we should be fine for a few days, but we might have to ration for tonight and tomorrow if we want to survive this expedition.”
“Is it good food? I’m barely making it out here,” Bernadette inquires with an amiable laugh.
Luxthforthian bent down and looked in the sack, opening the food canisters as he pulled them out. “Bastion Cothbrenias certainly did not disappoint with its assortment of herbs and spices, but it is unfortunately lacking in the cheese department.”
“Cheese? Are you serious? They have all that extravagant cuisine and they only lent us cheese?”
“It appears that is likely the case here. I am sorry.”
Bernadette rubs his shoulder. “No, it’s not your fault. It just shows me that your father really doesn’t give a flying horseshoe about you.”
“If he did not care to let me into the castle, why do you think he would care if I died on this journey for example?”
Bernadette applied a bit more pressure. “To make an example out of you for his people? Duh?” she teased. “I always believed that your father, the king of Bastion Cothbrenias, was never up to any good the second his Knights took me into that ballroom.”
“How did they escort you out?” Luxthforthian asked cautiously.
“Well for starters, one of them got too close to my butt for my liking, so I slapped them upright; that incident ended up in a strong lady knocking out a weak man.”
Luxthforthian sneered. “I mean, well deserved for groping the fiercest gal in all the lands, ammirite?”
“Leave the banter to the queen of quips,” Bernadette bent down and gave him a friendly glare. “No offense, but your jokes still need a lot of improvement.”
“I will get better as our journey carries onward,” Luxthforthian said with a smile. “I just wish Gildhart was here with us so we could have some comedic relief.”
“Hello?” Bernadette asked offensively. “I’m right here! I’m totally better than that fat knight. You ever wonder what he’s up to now?”
Luxthforthian nodded. “Yes, I do wonder what is happening in his little world right now, but if he is alright then I will not chase any false pessimism.”
“That’s my Lux, alright!” Bernadette exclaimed as she smacked his back. “Just keep you head above the dark clouds and you, like Honestria said, are the one that can bring the sun back since you are the…sun?”
“I did not really get that metaphor either, but let us carry on now.”
