The Hero and The Holy Princess

A week after the Hero's party woke up in the Kingdom of Bright, they returned to the Capitol of Bright. The party was tired from the journey and left the Hero to find an inn. Meanwhile, the Hero went to meet with the Holy Princess.

He not so eagerly climbed the stairs to the Holy Tower of Goodness where she resided. The scenery in the capitol was the polar opposite to the Dark Castle where he had just been. Where at the Dark Castle, the stones were old and torn, the stones in the capitol were bright and shiny. The Dark Castle had hordes of ghouls and monsters, but the capital was full of humans, elves, dwarves, and more. The Dark Castle had spikes, chains, and other odd decorative choices, but the capital had elegant paintings and curtains lining the halls.

The Hero could not help but wonder how Pain was so comfortable in the Dark Castle, living with the Demon Lord in person. He was even more perplexed by how casually he talked to her and how she went along with it. Girolamo shook his head as he approached the two golden doors that lead into the Holy Princess's chamber. He pushed them open, and they made a loud creak as they slowly moved.

The Holy Princess was staring off out a window as he entered the room. Even with all the noise he made opening the door; she was still unaware he had entered. He cleared his throat.

"Holy Princess, madam, I have returned."

"Oh, Hero, you're back," she said lazily as she turned around. She had long, pink hair and a yellow and blue dress. There was a golden halo on her head, and on her back were two small, pink, and feathered wings.

"Is something the matter?"

The Holy Princess sighed and walked over to her bed. She pushed a well-worn book out of the way and sat down. It was a tale of another world that the Holy Princess loved to read. As a child, she read it cover to cover countless times. In the account, the world met a disaster, but she still had imagined what it would be like to escape to it numerous times in her life.

"I asked for a rose bath this morning, and they ended up drawing me a daffodil bath," she muttered. "I'm not asking for much," she added.

"With all due respect..."

"If I have to stay in this room, couldn't they at least get that right... never mind, now tell me what you have to report already," she said with a tone that expressed no interest.

"Ahem, well, we entered the Dark Castle as planned, but then we ran into an... unexpected force."

"Unexpected?" she asked while pretending to care.

"Well, the Dark Commander... was not what we anticipated. Neither was the Demon Lord, for that matter."

"That doesn't matter as long as you defeated them, then I can give my mother a happy report."

"Well..." The Hero's voice got higher and trailed off.

"Hero, please don't tell me you didn't defeat them." The Holy Princess began to rub her head like she had a migraine.

"We didn't exactly win, but I had a chance to talk with the Dark Commander over drinks-"

"You had drinks with second in command over the forces of evil?" The Holy Princess suddenly shouted. She didn't do it in a manner that expressed anger, but instead, she was stunned.

"Well, he was holding The Holy Sword of Light, so we couldn't do much."

The Holy Princess did not say anything and just stood with her mouth open. After a moment, she began to pace with her hands hovering by her head.

"This isn't good; Mother won't be happy to hear this at all!" she started saying to herself repeatedly.

"Holy Princess. Holy Princess!" The Hero shouted out to get her attention.

"What?"

"Well, the Dark Commander fellow suggested trying to broker some kind of peace."

"Do you expect peace with the Dark Army! Wasn't your whole goal to kill all of them after they destroyed your village?" she shouted in surprise.

"I didn't think you remembered..." The Hero muttered. "Anyway, I was opposed at first, but I thought about it on the trip here, and I think it might be a good idea."

"We have fought this war for over a hundred years!"

"And maybe we should try to end it now."

"My mother would never agree to this!"

"But you're the one who is supposed to command the Army of Bright. Couldn't we try overwriting her?"

The Holy Princess began to pace more frantically back and forth.

"We can't. We can't. They aren't trustworthy. The Holy Queen. Mother. It can't," she spoke out loud in broken sentences.

"Holy Princess. I think we should give it a try. After meeting this Dark Commander... well, let's say he's more like a clown than an actual threat."

The Holy Princess finally stopped pacing. She looked around the room. Then, she took a deep breath.

"Okay, let's try meeting with this guy, but I want to go too!" she said with a nod.

"But, Holy Princess, the Holy Queen's orders were-"

"I don't care! I'd rather be remembered for ending this 100-year war than a Holy Princess who just sat in a room the whole time!"

"But The Holy Queen said-"

"My mother can get over it! Let's get going now!" The Holy Princess jumped up and tried to charge out of the room. The Hero sighed and grabbed her arm.

"He said he'd send a messenger. We'll wait until then and plan from there."

The Holy Princess sighed.

"Fine," She mumbled, "What will the messenger be like?"

"You know, he didn't say. I would guess it would be something like a carrier bat to deliver a note, though," The Hero thought out loud.

"Oh, that does make sense."

Approximately two months later, Pain's messenger arrived over the Capitol of Bright. The dragon Fafnir, accompanied by one of the four generals, The Lord of Liches, Kevin flew over the Capitol. Fafnir roared in the sky to announce their arrival. The citizens immediately went into a panic as the mighty creature soared in circles over the city. Soldiers scrambled to get ready, but the capital had no preparations for anti-air operations. So, the dragon and officer flew over the town for about an hour while everyone watched helplessly. Until, at last, they found who they came for.

The dragon immediately dived down from the sky and flew into the Mighty Tower of Bright, where the hero had walked up to the top. Fafnir crashed into the tower tearing into its clean stone and hanging over the edge. He roared. Kevin jumped off onto the rooftop where Fafnir had landed and met The Hero on top.

The Hero shouted all sorts of things at the messenger, but he simply tossed over a note Pain had written and held out his hand. The Hero quickly read through the message and agreed to a meeting. Kevin, however, did not leave but kept his hand held out. Girolamo sighed and handed him the money from the tab. With that, Kevin made a polite bow and hopped back on Fafnir. They took off back into the sky in the direction of Evuluss.

On that day, the Hero got recognition for driving the first-ever dragon attack away. The Capitol of Bright immediately invested heavily in its anti-air capabilities.