Prologue:
"Your Highness, I have important news."
Inside the vast cathedral of the Tengoku Kingdom, the newly crowned king and queen stood awaiting the Pope, who was reading from the ancient texts of Tengoku historical religious records.
"What do you mean by bad news?" the king asked cautiously, his eyes darting from the Pope to his wife and back again.
"Well...your child...she bears a dangerous prophecy," the Pope replied hesitantly. "Your Highness, do you wish for me to recite it to you?"
"At once," he demanded without hesitation. His tension seemed to fill the air of the cathedral in a moment of uncomfortable silence. He wished the best for his newborn daughter, he would do whatever it took to protect her from the outside world.
"Well then, do not take this in a bad way, but your daughter shall have a tough life," the Pope admitted. "When she reaches the age of eighteen, she will either become a great heir to the throne or will run away and become a powerful spiritual leader. She could possibly find her way to the wizards of the Outer Lands and become a wizard herself."
"That's horrible," the queen exclaimed, her brow knitting in deep concern, "something must be done. We shall make sure she never leaves the kingdom walls."
"Do you wish to hear more, Your Highness?" the Pope asked carefully. He looked as if he might explode from the amount of tension now in the air.
"No, leave us now," the king commanded.
"Are you sure, Your Highness-"
"Get out at once, I order you!" the king yelled, the veins in his neck popping out.
The Pope and the queen both recoiled in surprise. It was rare that the king lost his temper, so he must have been quite nervous.
Deciding not to press anymore than he had, the Pope bowed and left the monarch alone in the cathedral with his wife. Slowly their eyes met and they exchanged looks of terror.
"Alexander, what if she runs away from us?" the queen cried. "What will we do then, our reign will come to an end? The kingdom will fall into chaos!"
"I'm perfectly aware, Anna," he whispered in reply, closing his eyes. "We must keep her under our shell, or else the latter path of the prophecy might be fulfilled. This is for the better, try not to worry."
But the future of the world was a hard thing not to worry about.
-//-
