19th of June
Somewhere in Voreia
After over a month, the sketches had finally become reality.
A boy with brown hair sailed through the cloudless midnight sky on white wings, whooping with uncontrollable enthusiasm. Golden armor covered his torso, shins, forearms, and head. A large green shield of crystal was strapped to his right arm, while a golden bow was in his left hand. From all the components (bar the shield), feather-like projections of neon green, blue, and violet light sprouted.
"This is even better than I thought it would be!" the boy exclaimed as he swooped down before pulling up and soaring back towards the clouds. "With this level of control, it even feels like I'm an actual angel now!" He had been flying for more than 8 minutes already, and it seemed he would not be stopping any time soon.
Finally, though, the boy descended to the ground. As he landed, he noticed a girl with long, black hair walking towards him. She was smiling, with equal joy, but a more calm sort, as she sat down nearby. "Well, Durbe, are you finally happy now?" she asked, looking up at his face. "All that time you've been complaining that your father and si...I mean, the princess...have such wonderful magic and you've had none of it is finally behind you, with the armor completed."
"Yeah, it's really amazing!" Durbe replied, beaming with excitement. "It's kind of a shame that I can only be on the same level as...basically anyone who uses magic, really...when I have this, but..." Looking down at the ground, a trace of sadness flickered through his eyes and didn't quite leave. "I'm just glad I have this, Ayu. It makes me feel like I'm actually something...not just some guy who was called a 'sign of peace' because a constellation shined brightly during the night of his birth, and failed to live up to that."
Quietly, Ayu watched his expression, before continuing. "But, what will you do now?" she asked, standing up. "You're not going to use it to fight wars, and I doubt you would go as far to attack your father right away. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there's really any scenario in which this armor could be put to good use..."
Shrugging, the prince glanced back at the sky. "To be honest, I really don't have much of a path in life at all. I don't care about being a prince, and half the significant figures in our castle--probably including all my family members--hate me. If I could do what I wanted, I'd just travel."
"That's it? You just want to go gallivanting off on some idealistic crusade?" Ayu shot him a look of annoyance. "I don't think you're exactly ready to be a knight in shining armor yet, Durbe."
"I didn't mean that I'd be going off to slay dragons and defeat dark lords or any of those fantasy things!" Durbe protested, before he looked down in thought. "Although...I guess that wouldn't be too bad, heh."
Nearly toppling off her feet, Ayu let out a groan of disgust. "For crying out loud, Durbe of Occidens! You're hopeless!"
"Well, what would you rather do?" Durbe asked, doing the shrugging motion again. "You'd rather be out of the castle too, wouldn't you? Especially after those assassins showed up, probably from my father..." A dark, frustrated look flashed through his vision for a moment.
Nodding, Ayu walked next to him. "You're right. There isn't really anywhere safe for us anymore...so, you would rather just travel 'wherever the wind would take you,' or some flashy line like that?"
"That sounds about accurate," Durbe laughed, gently wrapping both arms around her waist. His wings appeared on his back and flapped several times. "Come on, let's go!" With that, they took off...
As Ayu and Durbe looked at the moonlit countryside beneath them, marveling at how beautiful Voreia looked compared to Occidens, the girl looked up at the sky, and suddenly her eyes lit up. "Durbe...look!" she called, pointing.
Following her gaze, Durbe saw the formation of seven stars gleaming brightly from above. "That's...the Grand Chariot," he breathed. Yes, this was the very constellation which had supposedly been shining brightly during the night of his birth. "To be honest, this is actually my first time seeing it and knowing it's there," he laughed, scratching the back of his head while wearing an embarrassed expression.
"Well, I'm no astronomer, fortune teller, or what-have-you," Ayu mused, "but this is a pretty good sign for the start of our journey, right?"
Somehow, looking at the constellation made Durbe feel that much more confident. "Yeah, it is," he agreed. "Hm...you think we should do something stupid like chase the constellation? No, I'm just kidding." Chuckling, he tried to ignore Ayu's irritated glare. "Well, anyway, I guess we'll head to Anatoli like I was supposed to, not that we have to care about Occidens anymore...wait a second. Wow, the Grand Chariot's right above it. Hey, guess we're chasing the stars after all!"
Both of them laughed at the joke as Durbe's wings guided them towards Anatoli under the beautiful star-filled sky.