The Past

"My Princess?!" 

The Princess heard muffled sounds all around her. It was the sound of the King. The Princess sat up with a jerk upon hearing the King's sound. 

"Killian?!" The Princess said his name the first thing after waking up. 

"My lady," Killian, who was standing by the foot of the bed, bowed down to her. 

The Princess narrowed her eyes in confusion. Then she noticed the King standing right next to her bed. She panicked and tried to stand up. 

"No, no, no," The King shook his head and held onto the Princess' blanket as he sat down on the ground on one knee to get a better look at her. "Stay in bed." 

"Y-Your Majesty," The Princess was flustered. "What happened?" 

"You fainted." The Queen said from the other side of the bed, "I suppose you could not take the humiliation you brought upon yourself." 

The King looked at the Queen in disappointment. She quickly looked away. 

"My Princess," The King called her, "What is it that I hear? Did you ask for a search for the quill or an alleged man?" He asked. 

"I told you the man had it." The Princess replied. "Killian knows! I saw an artifact in the hands of a commoner and asked him about it before he suddenly disappeared. The rumor surfaced from there, Your Majesty." She added. 

"Right?" The King nodded, "I have still halted the search. The capital is in chaos." 

The Princess nodded, "I apologize for the inconvenience, Your Majesty." 

"You only did what was right." The King said, "Furthermore, had I known this was going to happen at the rite, I would have never permitted it. You know that too." 

The Princess smiled at him and nodded. 

"Rest a lot." 

With that, the King and the Queen left the Princess' quarters. Killian also walked towards the door but the Princess stopped him. 

"Why are you here?" The Princess asked him right away. "Could you not go to the mountains?" 

"Would you rather that I went inside and disappeared forever?" Killian asked bluntly. 

The Princess was taken aback. How could he say that to her? 

"I did go there," Killian added as he sighed, "But then I heard that you fainted. I had no choice but to come back before I could enter the deep mountains." 

The Princess shook her head, "Forget about it. There is something else I need to tell you." 

Killian nodded, "I am all ears." 

"I saw a vision… I think." The Princess murmured. "And I also saw that man in the vision." 

"My lady," Killian sighed, "I request you to stop involving yourself with that man. I do not understand how you can be so interested in him after a small conversation." 

"Did I ask for your opinion about it?" The Princess sternly complained. 

"You did not," Killian replied. 

"Neither did I ask you to go to those mountains!" The Princess continued to shout at him. "It was your idea, to begin with. How dare you blame me?!" 

Killian looked down, "I apologize, my lady. I was not thinking straight." 

"Get out of my room." The Princess lowered her voice to warn him to which he gave her a stare. "Now!" 

Killian bowed and left the room at once. The court ladies closed the doors behind him as he walked out. 

"Keep me updated with her Royal Highness' health," Killian said to one of the court ladies. 

"Yes, Sir." The court lady replied. 

With that, Killian walked out of the Princess's quarters, knowing well enough that he wasn't going to be able to see her for a while. This happened quite frequently. She fought with Killian all the time. 

The Princess sulked and dropped back to her bed. The moment she closed her eyes, another vision appeared in front of her eyes. 

—

The barren ground shook as the hot currents occupied the atmosphere. The man - Heinrich - stood still in the fierce hot wind, with branches of trees flying here and there; broken metal pieces, tires, concrete houses, and whatnot. 

"Great Father!" Another man addressed him out loud, holding onto dear life under the strong winds. 

Heinrich looked behind and smiled, "If this wind were to wash you away, the everliving Hoover family heritage would certainly crumble." 

"For Lord's sake!" The man pleaded to the alleged 'Great Father' while the winds were dragging his body away and his feet struggled to stay on the ground. 

Heinrich chuckled loudly as he offered his hand to the man. The man didn't waste a second and held onto Heinrich's hand. 

"You surprise me way too often," Heinrich told the man. 

The man looked up at him as he caught his breath, "I could say the same for you, Great Father." He tried to chuckle. "But why are we here in the first place?" He struggled to speak. 

"To revive the world!" Heinrich smiled widely. "Why else would I trouble myself?" 

—

The Princess woke up with a gasp after witnessing what seemed to be the world - the world right after the Great Apocalypse. She shook her head as her vision blurred. Why was she getting these visions all of a sudden? 

Standing up from the bed, the Princess quickly sat down on the ground in front of her table to write down whatever she had seen just now. She started with a description of the world. 

"Barren land," The Princess murmured as she wrote it down, "Metal scraps - lots of them, broken tree branches, dark and humid atmosphere, heavy wind, crumbled concrete, lights… Right, what were those peculiar luminous things?" 

She pressed her lips together. Considering the vision, the world before the apocalypse must've been a lot more different than the world she was living in. She put her quill down and sighed, not being able to get anywhere with just a description. 

If she could, she would just go to the mountains herself. 

"Right!" The Princess exclaimed, "I can just go to the mountains myself!"