Broken Royals

Chapter One: Flashbacks

Gabriel Lancaster, the King, as well as his wife, Beatrice, have been inactive members of Ethar's Royal Family for eleven years. The public was strictly not to know as to not cause panic, but now, eleven years on, there may be a reason as to why the head royals of the most powerful kingdom in all of Arden, have been inactive.

Inside the castle, the reality became clear, in the master bedroom lay the King and Queen fast asleep. However, their appearances felt and looked like death. They appeared whiter than snow, their skin so weak that their bone structure was starting to show. As if their body was decaying, even though the heart monitor proved otherwise. The ever-decreasing physical condition of the King and Queen raised the concerns of one worker, the childhood caretaker. They remembered that fateful day eleven years ago.

~~~

That day started like any other. The young heirs, seven-year-old Aiden and five-year-old Erin had just about finished their breakfast. Aiden had only just begun his daily training, this training included him being able to control his Royal Power. Each Royal within the Monarchy of Arden are descendants of the first witches and wizards who inhabited Arden many years ago. These witches and wizards came with powers, however, as time progressed they died out, the only remaining power and link to Arden's history, resides in the Monarchy of Arden, the Royals. Aiden began by physically projecting the image of his power, the Power of Creation. This power and the Power of Destruction were the most important, and dangerous, powers in the world. Projecting power is the most basic form that the royal powers can be shown in. Aiden's task was to reattach torn pieces of rag dolls.

There were two rag dolls in question. One fully attached, so that Aiden would have an image to work with, and the one he was currently working on. During this regular power training with Aiden, his sister, five-year-old Erin, was sitting behind them playing with the hem of her dress. She enjoyed the way the light blue fabric would slowly float down after it was lifted. As Aiden was in the process of his training, the reference rag doll split perfectly down the middle. As if someone took an extremely scorching blade and sliced the doll perfectly in half. The sound of fabric ripping caused the young prince to stop what he was doing, and hide safely behind the caretaker.

The caretaker's eyes filled with fear and confusion. They frantically tried to scramble their thoughts and attempt to come up with a possible reason as to why or how this could have even happened. After a few seconds, their eyes lit up as if someone had flipped a switch. The caretaker swiftly turned around to where Erin had been happily sitting, their heart dropped and panic set in. There was a purple-blackish cloud that formed around Erin and began striking anything that got in its path. No one could believe what was going on, the cloud that had formed was destroying anything that got too close to Erin and yet, it never seemed to harm her.

"Erin?! Your Highness, are you okay?!" The caretaker called out, as Erin looked up the cloud had

vanished, as if nothing was ever there. But, the path of destruction was still very much visible.

There was no way about it. The young princess, who had so much energy and liveliness, was given the most dangerous power of them all. Destruction.

Later that same day, the two young royals were arguing instead of spending time with their parents. The children's mother, Beatrice, tried her best to calm them both down.

"Aiden, sweetheart. Let Erin play with the toy for a few minutes, then you can have a turn," Her warm, motherly voice attempted to provide comfort, but also a sense of control. However, Aiden was not budging.

"MUMMM! I had the toy first!" Aiden whined and stomped his small feet on the ground.

"Aiden. No stomping, you need to be a grown up and let your sister play with it. You have your own toys do you not?" Their father, Gabriel, reminded him.

This threw Aiden off the edge, he snatched the toy from his sister's hands and thus, sparked a tug of war between the two siblings.

"I had it firstt!" Erin complained, tears beginning to form in her eyes,

"But it's myyy turn!" Aiden continued to whine.

Each time either of them pulled, the more agitated they became. Erin was starting to lose her grip as her older brother started to pull and pull, with every pull she slipped closer towards him. The look she gave said it all, her eyebrows were scrunched and her cheeks were puffy with frustration. Beatrice and Gabriel were inching closer towards the fight, and attempted to pull them apart from each other. Beatrice tried to grab her son and ungrip his hands from the toy and the same with Gabriel, but their mischievous children's strength was too much. Eventually, Erin lost her grip on the toy and shrieked out the word 'no'. This scream was powerful in the sense that the same purple-blackish light echoed from Erin. The light had hit her parents, it just missed her brother just barely missing her brother. Beatrice slowly moved to her husband's aid but within a matter of seconds, both grown adults fell to the floor.

The room fell silent, so silent you could hear a pin drop. Aiden stood there in complete shock, and Erin had begun to cry.

"M-mum?" Aiden called out, but he received no response.

"Dadda?" Erin sobbed as she ran up trying to shake her father awake, but to no avail.

The loud thud created by the adults collapsing onto the floor raised concerns with the guards nearby, without a second thought, they rushed in to find out just what had happened.

Eleven years on, the guilty conscience of the caretaker finally forced them to at least bring up the chain of events to the royal family's doctor. Upon hearing the news, he very swiftly pieced together the final conclusion about just what had happened to the head royals of Arden. The doctor ordered a meeting between The Princess, her Advisor, the Formal Advisor and himself.

~~~

"In light of this chain of events, here is what I think happened. Her Royal Highness, having only just manifested her new power, was frustrated and let out a 'Coma Screech', a skill for the Power of Destruction, which sent their Majesties into their slumber," The Family Doctor explained.

"Well, that makes sense. Your Royal Highness, you just need to undo whatever curse you put on your parents, then finally this can all be sweeped under the rug and forgotten about." The King's Advisor commented.

Erin's face had dropped, realisation had set in. "I...I did this to them?" she slowly responded, placing her hand over the hilt of her sword.

The lack of response from the room was an answer in itself. Erin's heart sank in her chest, the guilt beginning to become unbearable.

"Don't blame yourself, you were five, and with a newly manifested power, zero training..." Erin's Advisor began to reassure.

"No...I was the one who got us into this mess...I will be the one who brings us out. No if's an or buts, understood." Erin demanded. Her attitude turned cold, she knew the weight of this situation and had suddenly become determined to fix everything.

"Right, well there is a catch to this, Your Highness," The Family Doctor began. "To bring them back, it is not just simply a matter of 'undoing a curse'. Because of the gravity of the situation, your power level and with their Majesty's health in consideration. Aiden must be present, his power is much stronger than yours from his last recorded information."

"So we need to find my brother first...well, alright then." Erin restated what the Family Doctor said.

"With all do respect your highness, what would happen if you..." The Formal Advisor tried to scold, but Erin had stopped listening and walked out.

At that moment a plan had been made. Find Aiden and reawaken the King and Queen from their royal slumber. All that filled the air within the palace was the silent determination to fight alongside the Princess and her journey to save Ethar.