Chase sat on the edge of his window, legs dangling over the edge of the vast Kingdom of Rider.
Behind him, his room was lit by a single lantern, leaving only the silhouette of his shadow visible.
"I've gotten as tall as her..."
He said to himself, bringing his knees up and hugging them.
Resting his chin on his knee, he let out a wistful sigh.
"Have I done right? I don't know who I am... Did I truly beat him in terms of strength? Father? Mother? Zephyr?"
The questions and thought aloud statements were never answered, or at least not yet, but he had to keep his head up, and think for himself.
Or else he would never be more than a weapon, especially now that the world knew who he was, or at least half of who he was.
'Heir...'
The word still sounded strange, but at the same time it sounded weirdly familiar.
"What am I the heir of?"
He asked, imagining a throne deep within the underworld, then envisioning a polar opposite in the glorious kingdom of Orion, at the center of the continent of Vallmora.
Then a knock on his door reminded him of the time, realizing that he was going to be late to the feast, he climbed back into his room and steadied himself.
Wearing a long sleeved leather tunic, and a pair of black pants of a similar material, he slowly neared his door with confidence of the choice he had made.
Opening the door: Equan, Michael, Gabriel, and Gemini met him in the castle hall.
Each of them stood with a different sort of confidence, as if they had found a bright light at the end of the darkness that had followed them from the cold tundra of Frostfang.
Equan wore an arrogant grin, Michael had a stern look of nobility, Gabriel had a soft welcoming smile, and Gemini had no real expression but he never really did so it was just as welcoming as the others.
Chase left his room, and walked along the red and gold carpet of Rider's castle with his friends behind him, they made their way to the ball room where the feast had already begun.
They passed several knights of the kingdom, some looked familiar, some looked like strangers, and others were quite intimidating.
Most knights of Rider wore indigo colored armor, as if it was made of mithril or some similar material.
Chase paid them no real attention though, as the most intimidating thing within the castle was the grand double doors that were swung wide open with several large tables filled with hundreds of people were chatting and feasting on the other side of it.
Chase and his allies stepped into the hall, gaining quiet mutters and distant looks from several of the royals and generals that had attended the feast.
He spotted Poppy sitting alone far down at the end of one of the tables, scowling at him and his friends.
So of course, the boy made his way over to sit with his old rival, which his friends followed, making up no arguments against his decision on seating.
"The food good?"
Chase asked lightheartedly as he sat down next to her, letting the aroma of all of the royal tiered foods enter his nose.
Michael and Equan both immediately started drowning themselves in entire piles of food as if it were their own private buffet.
Gabriel and Gemini didn't do the same and looked hesitant to even touch their food, while Chase felt similarly but for different reasons, as he knew the true weight of this feast.
"do you know what you're going to do?"
She whispered, turning her scowl towards King Rider, who sat front and center of the entire feast.
He nodded, feeling no regrets of the choice that he had made and would declare once he was given the chance.
"Yo!"
A familiar general exclaimed, sitting down on Chase's left without any warning or even bothering to ask if he minded.
Justin of House Pice grinned, and swiftly bit off a chunk of a chicken leg which he followed with a swig of his expensive wine.
"Who is this?"
Poppy frowned.
"Big J of the Third division, and General of the Southern Front. But you beautiful, can call me Justin."
Poppy's frown somehow deepened even further, and she looked quite annoyed by the general.
Justin smirked, and turned his gaze toward Chase.
"I hear some big stuff gonna go down... Just know that I'd join your army if you ever needed an extra general."
His voice lowered.
"Rider is a poor king who treats his soldiers with little to no rights, we are basically just pawns in his stupid game of conquest..."
Chase rolled his eyes, and studied the king from afar.
"I care not for his choices, although I can tell easily that he is not one for caring for others."
He began to frown.
Justin raised an eyebrow.
"I'm starting to get a clear picture on the type of guy you are..."
"You are?"
Chase smiled arrogantly, taking a bite of the strange meat he had found on his plate that came from no normal animal.
It tasted bitter and sort of disgusting, so he frowned and put the fork back on the plate.
"Somewhat, although if you're gonna do what I think you are, we got one hell of an era coming forth... Maybe..."
"Maybe what?"
"Nothing, it's nothing."
Justin smile faded, and he continued to enjoy his meal.
As the feast went further into the night, the lights dimmed slowly and eventually Rider stood from his seat and cleared his throat.
"Today... I welcome Chase of The House of Phoenix..."
Chase stood up, taking a deep breath. He slowly made his way up to the elevated platform and in front of Rider's table where the king stood behind it.
He slowly reached for a small case on the table, and pulled a pendant from it's foam protective casing.
"Because of your valiant show of power on the Frostfang battlefield, single-handedly taking down the ten star output Wendigo known as Sazir of House Frostfang. I bestow you... The pendant of honor, and hope that it is not the last one that you receive from one of the eleven kingdoms."
His tone turned ill once he mentioned the kingdoms, hinting at some sort of hidden meaning behind his words, but Chase had already made his choice, and nothing mattered from here on out.
He found confidence and smiled softly.
Tension grew in the air, and Chase made no effort to accept the honor.
"I decline..."
Gasps filled the air, and Rider's smile twitched for a split second.
That twitch was all he needed to see to know that he had made the right choice.
"You carry the blood of Vallmora and yet you choose to make enemies?"
"I never made you an enemy, I simply no not deserve such an honor, knowing that we brought upon the extinction of an entire civilization after a documented surrender..."
The crowd grew eerily silent, and somewhere behind him he could feel that stupid grin growing on Justin's face.
"So that is how it is..."
Chase turned his back on the king, knowing full well that he wouldn't commit to anything stupid in front of such an audience.
His friends stood up, including Poppy and Justin and followed him as he left the room with silent confidence.