The Land Beyond the Stars: Path of Redemption

The world of Helios Mas is a land where magic, legend & technology co-exist. It is the world of today in the Year 2219, & as such the world grew to a more modern cultural culture that has diversities while still keeping traditional arts from lore of ages past. Various lands & continents have changed their names from what they once were in past history as the world is changing for the better. To the Southeast Vale of Helios Mas lies the Kingdom of Mirradh, home to a great many notorious rulers of power, politics, honour & peace; a gathering of the influenced and authority. Yet every ruler that has ever set their foot on Mirradh, is accompanied by people who trust their judgement. These were people who would risk their lives for their loyalty to their liege & remain by their side regardless of the situation presents itself. These people are known as “Retainers”, acting as personal guards for those of descent of prestigious and influential bloodlines. Every retainer is aligned to their respective clans, where their loyalty is of most importance to their liege above all else. Of course, those of royal blood are not always condemned for choosing their retainer from associated clans. As long as that person is equipped to protect their liege & possesses the will to do so, it is enough to be elected as one. This code of conduct, however, does not apply to Riza; her past was a disoriented memory of lust for power & sacrifice. She chose to hide this sickening family secret from any humans, & she is determined to keep it that way. At the age of 16, The Princess of Mirradh chose her to be her retainer. At first, Riza wanted to refuse such an offer; but thinking back on her past, she reluctantly accepts the title bestowed upon her. She only accepted the title as a way of atoning for her father's wrongdoings. One of those wrongdoings almost cost the life of the Princess herself if it wasn’t for a mysterious young boy who stepped in & took her away to safety. But that was a thing of the past, unworthy of remembrance. Serving as a Retainer for years into her 26th year, the Princess & the Retainer have made fond memories, becoming inseparable friends. Living in the castle was a dream-come true for Riza. She still visited her mother back at Draglaic, but the father was nowhere to be found since Riza had become the Retainer to the Princess of Mirradh. She knew her father detested the Mirradhian royals, but for reasons that she alone does not know. Her father was dead to her as Riza did not see him as a father she used to know after that fateful encounter with the mysterious young boy back at this very castle. What has he done to destroy this family? Why would he want this? Am I a by-product in his image? Riza kept wondering what went wrong along the way in her life. She couldn’t see through what her father was trying to achieve back then. If only she knew… “Hey, are you even listening to me? Don’t make me babble about this whole thing by myself, it just makes me look like talking to myself”. The voice brought Riza back into reality, only for her face to be greeted by a 25 year-old naive yet delightful queen-to-be. “Ah, my apologies Milady. I was… daydreaming. Yes, that was it… daydreaming”. Riza gave a small smile as she shrugged off the thought of her past, her family…her father. “Well, enough of that, you’ll have to escort me to the grand hall. I can’t become queen if I just stand around waiting for my BEST FRIEND to finish whatever she’s daydreaming about!”. She turned toward a massive door that leads from her luxurious room to the castle hall that sees no end. She sure is ecstatic to be queen. “& stop with the whole ‘Milady’ stuff. You should be able to call me by my name at this point of our lives.” She gave Riza that cheerful smile that caught her off-guard. “That is your nickname, Milady. Can’t I call you Lady Syazratul instead?” the response Riza got from that sarcastic question was a ‘really’ look before they both let out a gentle chuckle as they were heading to the castle's grand hall. As the princess bid her Retainer farewell to the royal seamstress's chamber for her coronation attire, Riza took this opportunity to catch some fresh air by going out through one of the castle's balconies. It was the day of the princess' coronation, where the joyous event extended outside the castle walls. White golden flags are hanged & waved all around the castle. Whichever way you look outside the castle balcony, you can see the people of Mirradh rejoicing as their princess is ascending the throne to succeed her father, Lord Johan. It was such a delightful occasion for everyone really; it hasn’t been like that since the Lords’ wife passed away 20 years ago. Her Majesty’s death was a dark age for Mirradh to lose such a benevolent queen that even blighted Lord Johan’s heart into shards and fragments of despair that could never be healed… but now that the Princess is succeeding the throne, he could finally put at ease to his old, brittle mind & body. “Don’t get your hopes up there, Retainer.” Riza's head shot up from the festive view to abruptly be greeted by a young man in a normal Mirradhian soldier attire, albeit customized elegantly in white and light blue azure pattern paired with a deep sea blue cavalier shoulder cape, complete a rapier & a parrying dagger hanging on both opposite of his hips. “I have a name, Fittrye. Need I remind you that you are in the presence of her Highness the Royal Retainer.” The Duelist just let out a small sigh to Riza’s response as he looked at her face with a lifeless expression on his facial structure. “I’m aware of that Retainer. I don’t see the point in me going out of my way to say your name since you never really respected my presence despite our… differences.” Riza was brimming with fumes as her patience had gone midway to almost full-eruption mode, but she cooled herself down as soon as she realized Fittrye was only baiting her with his taunts. The Duelist then turns his body away from her, heading toward the entrance hall of the castle. He stopped midway & gave Riza one last word before he removed himself from the scene. “Protect her Riza. If you don’t, then you’ll just be the same as me.” With that he walked away, disappearing from Riza’s line of sight. The Retainer was confused about that last comment; ‘What is that guy talking about? I bet he’s just tired & spits stupid things out of his mouth. His eye-bangs are showing’ looking outside the castle balcony for the festive view. Riza felt at ease as reminiscences of her past-self flowed through her mind before going back into the castle grand hall for the big day. *In the Hall of Kings* Every noble & royal from the 5 kingdoms, apart from Mirradh, was invited to the Princess' coronation day. One of the nobles attending the event was Duchess Dana of House Merlize, an aristocratic woman who had a share in a very well-known & profitable merchant guild. The Duchess hails from the Kingdom of Avalon, a city that was known for its beauty that rivals the legendary world of King Arthur back in the lore of ages. King Gabriel Felix of the Kingdom of Zephyr City: a young prodigy, an Elementalist Mage who had his coronation a year ago in his Kingdom, which is viewed as the world's most advanced civilization in terms of technology and artificial growth on the land itself. Followed by King Britney Anelle of Avalon, who recently had his coronation in succeeding the throne like his father before him. Both of these kingdoms had formed an alliance with each other due to their fathers being sworn brothers back in the Battle of Arien’thal, which led Helios Mas to this era of peace & prosperity that lasted 30 years. The other royals from their respective kingdoms, including King Danielle Justicar of Priocya, Queen (Preferred to be addressed as “Lady’) Kashe Lumienara of Vertacielle & Advisor Cornelius Sidam of Bowerstone, representing King Zeri. Not much is known from Riza’s point of view of Bowerstone apart from their culture & tradition, but what she heard from rumors was that King Zeri was a tyrant in his dominion. It is hard to describe how much of a tyrant he is, considering the Retainer nor the royals of Mirradh have ever visited his kingdom. The coronation commences with a cardinal giving a speech on the responsibilities & burdens of ruling a kingdom. From her accent & appearance, the cardinal obviously hails from the Kingdom of Vertacielle, since all Vertacian are, in Riza’s mind, religious, pious and devoted. As the coronation went on, Riza felt a faint voice that seemed soothing yet hazardous to listen to. The Retainer shrugged it off as if it was nothing, but she still could not stop the voice from replaying again & again in her head. ‘Se------ luck d------asah tan----'. Riza contemplated the voice, trying to c***k it like some sort of a puzzle, as if it was trying to convey something about someone within this very room. Riza observes her surroundings with minimal body movement so that it does not disturb her liege's coronation. There wasn’t anyone looking out of the ordinary apart from Fittrye standing at the darker corner of the grand hall, out of public sight. The Duelist then started to move towards the backdoor of the east hall & open it. ‘What are you up to?’ by this point, Riza wasn’t even paying attention to the coronation. Time was not on her side, nor everyone as a matter of fact, as the coronation was merely part of the opening prologue of a stage before the main act. “BRACE YOURSELF!!’ unable to detect the person who shouts out the warning at a formal coronation, the golden embedded ceiling burst wide open as if it was struck down by darkness itself. Riza stumbled, staggered from the explosion as she managed to back-step away from the falling rubble that was crumbling heavily from the initial burst. Some of the nobles & royals managed to escape from the backdoor Fittrye opened a moment ago. ‘Was that a coincident that he opened the door? Damn it, what’s going on here?” Suddenly, 3 spawn of darkness darted through the hall towards the Princess. Riza had no time to think of anything else, she pledged her life to the Princess & swore to protect her above all else. Riza races toward the princess, hurling herself around the panicked crowds, running over each other like headless chickens. The princess was paralyzed by the unexpected invasion to react. The 3 darkness turns into a humanoid form of a shadow wielding hand blades fitted for assassination. Before the humanoid assassins could cut the princess limb to limb, Riza somersaults into the fray & reaches her left hand to manifest her lance from the emitting bright azure blue light. Wielding it two-handed, she twirls it around in a dangerous motion, flinging the assassins backwards, shattering into darkness once more before crashing to the ground. Riza looked over to see the princess to ensure her safety, then let out a sigh of relief seeing that the princess was still okay. ‘Segala makluk dalam dunia ini akan dimusnahkan tanpa belas kasihan’ Riza began to hear that faint voice again, clearly & a bit soother that it was before. “I heard it too…” END OF CHAPTER 1