Chapter Text
Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, there was a prince named Johan. Prince Johan was handsome, kind, and beloved by all throughout the kingdom.
Since childhood, the prince had loved adventures. He trained hard in combat and wits so that he would embark on his heroic journey when he came of age.
One day, the king summoned him and said:
"My dear son, before I get too old and frail, before you take over the throne and rule our kingdom, go forth on the great adventure that you have been dreaming of. Discover the world, and help those in need."
The king waved his hand, and servants brought in a sword with a long blade that glowed silver like the moon. Embedded alongside the blade were seven gems of different colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
"This magic sword is a treasure of our kingdom. It will give you the power to overcome your greatest trials."
The prince was overjoyed. He accepted the sword and began preparing for departure.
The next morning, he bid farewell to the king and queen and set off on his journey. With the precious sword strapped to his back, he rode on his trusted white horse and left the castle.
He came upon a new kingdom. When the king of said kingdom heard this news, he invited the prince to his castle.
"Please save my daughter the Princess, O noble knight!" The king pleaded. "She has been taken by the evil dragon."
"The evil dragon?" The prince's eyes brightened.
"It is a big, terrible dragon that lives within the mountains at the northern edge of the continent." The king explained. "It guards the Spring of Immortality. Many have ventured there seeking eternal life, yet none returned. Bring the princess back safe and sound from its lair, and I shall grant you any reward that your heart desires."
"Rest easy, Your Majesty." Prince Johan touches the stones on his sword, his eyes burning with determination. "I will defeat the evil dragon and save the princess!"
Thus, Prince Johan set off for the North. He travelled for many days, crossing fields and rivers and treacherous paths, until he arrived at the dragon's castle. It sat on top of the tallest mountain in the region, a grand structure of dark and pointy towers.
There were no guards on the outside. Prince Johan tied his horse at the gate and carefully walked in. He crossed a long pathway through an empty courtyard, and pushed open the big doors on the central building.
When he got inside, the doors slammed shut behind him. It was very dark, the only light being the faint glimmer coming from the small, high windows on either side of the room. It was barely enough for him to make out the shape of a throne, situated on a tall platform on the other end. He swallowed and made his way forward.
But just as he put his foot onto the lowest step, he became acutely aware that he was not alone.
Be it the shift in temperature, a breath of air that swept across the dim space, or the smallest rumbling of a growl that was only picked up by the most subconscious layer of his perception, his instincts alerted him: he was in the presence of a most terrifying beast.
Prince Johan was frozen in place. His hair stood on end, and he broke out into a cold sweat, afraid to even breathe or swallow too loudly. As he slowly turned around, his hand reached for the handle of the sword. In the darkness, he could barely make out the silhouettes of massive wings, and parts of a long, scaly body with sharp spines along its back. The shape towered over him. His heart hammered in his chest.
"I have been expecting you, mortal."
Prince Johan started from the booming voice that rang across the space. Out of the blackness, a giant pair of cerulean-coloured eyes opened and stared straight at him. He took a quick inhale and jerked the sword from its scabbard, ready to fight.
Lanterns lit up along the walls, and the giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling glowed. Prince Johan squinted at the sudden brightness, and when he could see well again, the creature was nowhere in sight.
"Allow me to introduce myself."
He whipped his head around and looked up at the throne. There in front of the seat stood a tall man of pale complexion and long, dark green hair. He was dressed in a long ash-coloured fur-lined coat, with silk embroideries, and a pair of silver-plated boots.
"I am Lord Ryo, ruler of these mountains."
Prince Johan, having recognised the voice and the look in his eyes to be the same as the beast's just now, replied cautiously, not lowering his sword:
"I am Johan, Prince of the Gem Kingdom. I am here to-"
"No need for long-winded explanations." The dragon lord held up a hand. "The Princess is in the back. I have been waiting too long for someone to pick her up, so proceed with it as quickly as possible."
The prince blinked at the dragon lord - who, having made this declaration, turned around and walked through a doorway beside the throne.
"…Huh?"
The princess was a very fair lady, with long, flowing hair as golden as wheat at harvest, a beautiful face with eyes as blue as the ocean, and features as delicate as a painting. She was sitting on the carpeted floor of the room that she had presumably been staying in, kicking her feet and clinging to a curtain and wailing in a shrill voice:
"NO~~ I don't wanna go back!! I wanna stay here with Lord Ryo forever!!!"
The dragon lord named Ryo kneaded his brow bone with his thumb and forefinger. Prince Johan took his hands off his ears:
"But Princess, the King and Queen are very worried about you. This is not a safe nor proper place for a royal lady to live!"
"What do YOU know about what's safe and proper for me?" The princess pursed her pink lips. "I shall have you know, Lord Ryo can protect me from everything."
"Just because I did it once does not mean I will do it again."
At the prince's questioning look, Lord Ryo sighed.
"I was travelling near the border in my human form when I came across bandits attacking her carriage. I couldn't just stand by and watch, but it was careless of me to have let myself be seen."
"No matter how many times I told father about this, he never believed me." The princess chimed in, batting her lashes dreamily as she recalled the heroic rescue. "Therefore, I decided to come live with Lord Ryo, in order to devote my life to repaying my saviour."
"You followed the evil dragon to his lair??" Prince Johan blurted out before he could stop himself.
"And every day, all she does is complain. It is cold, it is hard to get around, there are no flowers, there are no cute birds or small animals around, the food is bland, it is boring, so on an so forth. My head hurts at the very sound of her voice, and my servants are at their wits' end!"
The dragon lord suddenly broke into an impassioned rant, and when he'd finished he looked at Prince Johan solemnly:
"Take her out and away from my castle as soon as possible. And make sure she does not come back. I do not care how you do it - carry her out, put her in a cage, tie her on horseback - just get her out of my sight."
Though Prince Johan was irritated at the Lord's words, he sighed and smiled his most charming smile at the princess:
"You see, Your Highness, he doesn't even want you here. Let us not tolerate his disgraceful words against your dignity any longer."
"I favour men of darker temperaments like him." The princess giggled and remained clinging to the curtain with an iron grip.
The dragon lord turned to him:
"You see how it is. Even though I am certain her kingdom is in disarray from her disappearance, and making all kinds of undue accusations at me. If you return empty-handed, the King will, in all likelihood, send in the Royal Army. Do you reckon that will turn out well for anyone?"
Prince Johan stepped closer to the princess and pleaded:
"Princess, won't you at the very least travel with me back to the palace, to inform His and Her Majesty that you are alive and well? If you still wish to return here afterwards, I shall put in a word to your Father the King."
The princess eyed him up and down. Then her eyes glinted.
"Sure, but you have to win me back the proper way."
"The proper way?"
"If you defeat Lord Ryo in battle, I will come home with you."
Prince Johan was exasperated. He hadn't expected to ever be exasperated at the prospect of battling a mythical creature - certain to bring great, lasting glory to his name and country, but the circumstances were far from glorious. He turned to look at Lord Ryo, hoping to hear the proposal be declined. But the dragon lord simply crossed his arms with a stern look:
"If that is what it takes, fine by me. But do not get the wrong idea - I will not let you have the match just because I want to be rid of this royal brat."
Then he smirked:
"Though, to make it more of an equal fight, I will only use my human form. That should be plenty to crush you, regardless."
Prince Johan stood up taller and met his gaze with intensity:
"I shall defeat you, whatever form you take."
The next morning, before the sun rose, they stood on two opposing cliffs, facing each other across one of many deep splits in the rocky, grey terrain.
Prince Johan clutched the sword in his hands. The dragon lord - in his human form - stood opposite him with a calm look on his countenance. Suddenly, he swept his hands to either side - they became engulfed in magical energy, forming long, sharp claws that glowed dark purple - and charged at the prince. Prince Johan could only lift the magic sword just in time to block the first strike, but the impact pushed him back and rippled all across his body. He grunted and regained his stance to parry the next one.
What immense magical power… Prince Johan remarked to himself. And it was dark magic, which his light-based essence was weak to. One hit of those claws would very likely debilitate, if not kill him.
"Spirits of the blade, aid me!" He shouted as he launched himself at Lord Ryo from atop a rock that he had retreated onto. His sword glowed orange, and a tiger spirit emerged from the sword. It lunged at the dragon lord, and turned into bolts of lightning. Lord Ryo dodged them within a hair's breadth; the bolts struck the ground where he'd stood and left a crack in the charred soil.
"Now that's an interesting thing you have brought to the fight there."
Lord Ryo's eyes sparkled as he smirked, having placed a meaningful stress on the word "thing." Prince Johan shuddered, the waves of magical energy flowing from the sword was almost overwhelming.
He clutched the handle, and moved in for another blow. This time, the sword glowed yellow, the spirit of a mammoth bearing down onto Lord Ryo a tremendous weight with the strike of its giant trunk.
"Guh-" The dragon lord gritted his teeth as he held his blocking stance, the rock surface fracturing and splitting into pieces underneath. His feet were driven deep into the ground. When the attack had passed, he leapt into the air:
"Very good." Landing on top of a boulder not far away, he laughed, his eyes ablaze. He spread his arms wide. Purple and red runes glowed on his palms. "You are capable of entertaining me, at the very least. I shall play with you."
Three magical circles appeared, rotating in the air before him. They began to glow blindingly white, and Prince Johan barely had time to jump out of the path of the beams that shot straight at him. The air and debris that got blown up where they struck sent him tumbling and almost falling off the cliff. When he hopped back onto the surface, he saw the deep bores that the attacks had left.
"So that's his specialty." Prince Johan swallowed at the sight. "He'd engaged in hand-to-hand combat with me at first, probably because he thought that would've been enough to defeat me." He noted bitterly, but at the same time was filled with renewed confidence.
The dragon lord continued blasting him with those magic circles, decimating the terrain and blowing up dust and rocks everywhere. Prince Johan ran and dashed around them, as quick and nimble as a fox. However, he was being pushed against the edge of the cliff once more.
"Magic sword, help me fly!" He raised the sword and leapt off the cliff to dodge another blow. Was it a gamble? Yes, but the prince had grown quite assured in the sword's ability to assist him in any manner he wished. Indeed, though he fell down initially, the spirit of a majestic, blue eagle spread its wings from the blade and carried him back up in the air.
"Great Eagle Spirit, can we hit him from here?" Prince Johan asked. The eagle spirit told him:
"Call for Ruby."
It disappeared. The prince, still hovering in the air just above the ground, pointed the sword at the dragon lord:
"Ruby, show him your power!"
The sword glowed deep red. Balls of fire shot from the tip and flew at the dragon, who quickly cast his beams to intercept them. But rather than be cancelled out, the red projectiles bounced off and hit the ground around him.
Taking advantage of the smoke, Prince Johan quickly closed the distance, the tip of his sword pierced through and aimed right at the lord's chest. It got blocked by his magic claws, and from this point on they got into a close-ranged battle of attrition. Of this type of combat, Prince Johan was rather confident. He had trained with some of the most renowned swordsmen from around the continent, and though the dragon lord was very strong, as long as the prince could deal damage with his blows, he was sure he could hold his own even against a mythical beast. His blade had become covered in a violet light, and every strike he made, the claws of a mountain cat tore through whatever it hit. Thus were rocks, boulders, and even the sleeve of the dragon lord's coat got marked with cuts after a while of them going back and forth. Loud clangs of his sword colliding with the sharp claws alongside the heavy shuffling of their feet echoed throughout the mountains.
"Struggle all you want." The dragon lord snarled, purple sparks from where the prince's sword was grinding against his claws lit up his eyes. "The outcome will be the same."
Suddenly, a large magical circle appeared between them, and the next split second Prince Johan got blasted away. He rolled to the edge of the cliff and grabbed a protruding rock just before falling off. Thankfully, the sword seemed to have protected him from most of its impact, but his ears were still ringing. He got back up and immediately took off running to avoid the follow-up blasts.
"Is that the best you can do, Dragon Lord?" He taunted after dodging another hit. "Stand from afar and rely on long-range magic to hit me?"
He hadn't expected his opponent to react, ancient and sagely the dragon had appeared in mannerism thus far, but Lord Ryo's eyes gleamed and he charged at the prince at the speed of lightning. His claws, overflowing with dark magic, struck down on Prince Johan. The latter brought the sword up to block, whence the spirit of a green tortoise emerged to shield him. But the shockwaves from the attack washed over him and rattled his very bones. The ledge he was standing on cracked, then crumbled. He lost his footing and fell backwards along with the loose rocks.
The dragon lord peered over the edge, but saw no sign of the prince, just the debris falling down the deep, dark chasm. He clicked his tongue and jumped down.
Suddenly, he felt the prince's presence again, this time right behind him. He turned around mid-air to-
Blinding white.
The sun had risen past the mountain range, and its strong glares shone straight into the dragon's eyes. He squinted, unable to make out the shape of the prince. And then all of a sudden Prince Johan was right above him, with the magic sword raised high above his head. Its blade was coated in indigo light. He struck the dragon lord with all his might, bringing down torrents of magical energy that swirled and rushed alongside the blade like the horn of a pegasus. Unable to guard in time, Lord Ryo took the hit nearly head-on, and was knocked down into the dark, shadowy depths below.
"Yes!!" The prince punched the air in exhilaration. But then he observed that there was nowhere he could land or grab onto, as he was also falling. Without a hint of fear in his heart, he raised the sword again and chanted:
"Great Eagle Spirit, come assist me!"
A wisp of blue essence curled around his hand, but the crystal's spirit did not emerge. Neither did the sword grow wings to carry him back up to the surface of the cliff. He looked at the blade, and saw that the stone had gone grey - not only the sapphire, but all the crystals whose powers he had employed had similarly become dull.
Only then, a jolt of trepidation seized his guts. The wind rushed faster past his ears, he looked at the sharp, ragged sides of the cliffs beside him, the dark bottom drawing closer each second. It was as though his limbs had lost all strength. He could only stare at his impending doom in wordless terror, his lips parted but no screams came out.
But then he landed on a soft, cool surface. More accurately, the surface had risen up from the darkness to meet him. The last he could see, before exhaustion took over him completely, was a pair of giant wings spread out on either side of a sea of black scales that shone green and violet in the sunlight.
When Prince Johan woke up, he found Lord Ryo and the princess standing before him. They were back at the spot atop the mountain, from where she'd been watching the fight.
"I transformed." Lord Ryo explained to the princess. "Therefore, I lost. You shall henceforth return with him to your kingdom."
The princess let a glimpse of dismay cross her face, but then came to Prince Johan with a smile:
"I saw it, I saw it all, oh, great, brave knight that you are! How tenaciously and valiantly you fought for my honour - and against such a mightly foe as Lord Ryo, too! You have saved me, come now, bring me home to Father and Mother, at last, oh, my beloved prince!"
She exclaimed, almost maniacally at the end. Prince Johan sat there with a dazed look in his eyes, taken aback by this sudden change in attitude on the part of the princess. Most of all, however, he had completely forgotten about this whole agreement. So heated and enthralled he had gotten in the battle with the dragon lord that the very cause of said battle had slipped from his mind. Even now, his heart was still pumping, blood rushing through his veins as he gazed up at his opponent - the sleeves of his coat slightly torn and singed but otherwise completely unscathed. The excitement of giving his all and (momentarily) besting the mythical dragon still reverberated through his arms and legs.
Lord Ryo turned away and began walking in the direction of their horses.
"Wait!" Prince Johan got up on his feet. When the lord turned back to him, he found himself momentarily at a loss for words, until he managed to get out:
"The princess cannot travel all the way back to the capital on horseback. I shall ride to the closest border station and get a wagon."
The lord regarded both humans for a moment, then replied:
"I will send one of my servants to call for one. You can stay in the castle for the night, and set off first thing in the morning."
That night, the prince lay in bed in one of the rooms prepared for him, and could not fall asleep. Despite the cold and unwelcoming exterior of the castle, his accommodation was cozy and comfortable, prepared with utmost hospitality by Lord Ryo's servants. Even so, the prince tossed and turned under the soft, heavy down blankets. His heart was full of untraceable emotions, conflicting and causing him all sorts of strange sensations in his chest. Every time he closed his eyes, images flashed behind his lids, images both from what had transpired that day and of what had not come to pass. He was happy to accomplish his first mission that easily. But at the same time, he could recall vividly — though while it had been happening, he had surely not paid this much attention — the look that flashed across the dragon lord's face after he declared his loss, before turning away from the princess and prince earlier that day.
What did it mean? Prince Johan's chest clenched at the way the golden light of dawn shone into those cerulean eyes. He had all his life trained to be a warrior, and had never been particularly well-versed in the reading of others' emotions. But something was pulling him in towards that expression, as if therein lay an important truth he must grab hold of.
Suddenly, he saw colourful lights emitted from his sword, sheathed in the scabbard and hanging from the wall. He got out of bed and drew the sword, marvelling at the glowing gemstones:
"Great Spirits, you have returned. Why did you forsake me before?"
The eagle spirit appeared before him and tilted its head languidly:
"Unfortunately, young prince, to manifest us costs much strength. You may only call us out once per day."
This information gave Prince Johan a long pause. He thought about his battles - the ones he had gone through, the ones (he hoped) were still to come. He thought about the fact that he actually had not defeated Lord Ryo in any meaningful sense.
"I must become stronger!"
With this new, exciting resolve, he said to the crystal spirits:
"Tomorrow, the carriage for the princess will come with a full entourage of knights and soldiers to protect her on the journey back. She can depart, while I stay here to hone my swordsmanship. I should not miss the opportunity to face such a strong opponent as this dragon lord."
"Nay," the tiger spirit objected, "it is ill-advised. You have helped the people you wanted to help. Now, you will do good by returning with her and receiving the fruits of your heroism."
"…Why, I-" Prince Johan was visibly surprised. "I thought you would urge me to seek greater heights! To pursue adventure!"
"We serve the King of House Andersen." The mountain cat blinked her sharp but kind eyes at him. "And the current king wishes for your safe return."
Sighing, Prince Johan put the sword back into the scabbard, and returned to bed.