The prince returns

On a sunny day at the imperial capital, Nicea, a triumph was being held for the emperor. The emperor had conquered the western continent, and the people of the Heian empire were full of pride and ecstasy. The state provided free ale and bread for the masses, and the day was proclaimed a public holiday.

A golden chariot was being pulled by ten horses, with the emperor riding on it. The sentinels of embers were marching beside the emperor as a large host of Varangians, wearing freshly shined armor and weapons, walked behind the columns.

Aristocrats from the Cassian and Elvan kingdoms had been chained and forced to walk like slaves as the citizens of Nicea threw rotten fruits at them. Riches and spoils were stolen from the castles and sacred places of the ruined kingdoms and nations, shown to the people as the spoils of war. As an additional insult, these relics were ordered by the emperor to be smelted down into golden coins.

The most outstanding trophy was a golden oak, burning nonstop, stolen from the great forest of Elva, screaming with a horrible sound, refusing to die. These remarkable trees were sentient and possessed great divine powers. They were worshipped by the people of the nation of Elva. Knights of the kingdom would be called by these great trees to enter the sacred forest and come in contact with a particular golden oak. These oaks would set challenges for a knight, and if the knight could overcome them, the oak would grant power and brand-new armor and weapons. The knight would serve the oak until he or she died either by age or in battle.

The people gasped as a group of large humans marched, chained together. These were the titan knights of the Cassian kingdom. They had trained their entire life so they could survive to bathe in the spring of growth and strength. The spring would infuse these knights with immense power, but only every fourth survived the bathe. Of those who survived, most of them had nonsymmetrical body parts as the power of the spring was too great. Some knights had one arm more significant than the other, and some had large torsos and smaller hands.

As the triumph process was getting close to the imperial palace, where it would end, a giant fireball was seen in the sky. The people thought it was part of the celebrations and cheered, but the emperor knew it wasn't.

They realized it was an imperial gravity ship set ablaze as it got closer. The people started to scream and flee as it was about to crash into the city's center. Before it could hit, the emperor destroyed it with fire, ensuring no damage could be caused.

Prince Segeric jumped from the burning ship, leaving all his crewmen to die. His flame armor surrounded his body to protect him from the flames. The prince fell right in front of the emperor, who didn't look pleased.

"Oh, hi, oh mighty emperor. We might have a small problem," Segeric said with a shy smile.

~~

"YOU IDIOT!" the emperor yelled inside the imperial palace and threw his son, Segeric, against the wall.

"I had some problem. Some demons came and caused problems," Segeric explained, still not losing his smile.

"Don't try to fool me! A demon would never interfere that way. Either the queen or you tried to make a deal with one, and I know the queen would never trust one. BUT YOU!"

"I thought I could use the demon."

"You are neither strong nor smart enough to use a demon. A demon is selfish and will always betray any mortal or even god. They only want to create chaos, and now you helped one to do so. You are basically a child of pandora now," the emperor explained in his fury and started to burn the face of his own son.

"I think Segeric has had enough of punishment.....father."

At that moment, prince Berig entered the chambers. He had a bronze prosthetic arm and leg built and designed by the dokkaebi. Half of his face was covered by an iron mask. A golden eye was placed in the socket where the prince had lost his eyesight.

"I am first your emperor, then your father. You should already know that. Or do you also need a reminder and a lesson, like I am giving right now to your brother?"

"I do not need a reminder, but I think you should rethink before completely injuring one of your most important generals. We are now fighting against the Saracens, the locust queen, and the Eastern kingdoms. We surely need every possible soldier and warrior for that," Berig explained.

Emperor Ala let go of his son and walked out of the room.

"Berig, help your brother up. Then go to the barracks and prepare every soldier to move out. The festivities will end earlier," the emperor said and left.

Berig then walked to his brother, who was still smiling, poorly injured on the floor.

"I guess you are happy that you can look down on the rest of us again," Segeric said, reaching his hands up.

"I do not look down on or care about anyone's opinions. Then the only opinion that matters is the emperor's,"

As Berig was about to lift his brother up from the ground, Segeric just smiled. The grin on Segeric's face irritated Berig, and he shoved his brother back to the ground.

"I guess you don't care about our opinions, but we still can crawl under your skin," Segeric laughed.