"Thank the heavens for my talent, clutching at a critical moment like that." Henry wiped off the sweat on his forehead. He just finished stating his oath and fortunately, he didn't embarrass himself.
The meeting concluded with his father, Maximus staying in the room with Master Elias, King Frederic and his two advisors. To further discuss the terms of their new alliance and probably trade resources and routes and all the political things that would prove valuable to Henry.
However, he has other more important matters to attend to.
'I've been slacking off a bit in my training.' He muttered to himself. The ominous prophecy that the old master told him last night was still fresh in his mind.
He has no problem with his brother, Alex dying from whatever he did that made Maleficent burn him with her green flames. He's even in favour about it.
The problem is that the fact that a being such as Maleficent has taken it upon herself to kill Alex says something about her thoughts regarding the situation.
In layman's terms, if Maleficent killed Alexander, what's to say she wouldn't extend that to the Kingdom behind Alex?
Henry may had the confidence of watching the Disney films and hence being aware of the characters and their backstories but that's not enough for him to fully flesh out their real personalities.
Maleficent may have been given a redemption movie by in the live-action but what if the Maleficent in Master Elias's vision is the evil version?
The one who doesn't have the redemption arc.
Just thinking about what she can do gives him the jitters.
Maleficent is strong, yes. Even if the movie failed to fully display her prowess, Henry is a hundred percent her version in this real world is an entirely different matter compared to her Disney counterpart.
Look at Mother Gothel. Henry was taken aback when she showed a surprising capability in curses. Was that shown in the Disney film? No.
"How troublesome." He murmured to himself as he massaged his temples.
"What's troublesome?" Rapunzel's voice out of nowhere startled him. When he turned around, she was staring at him with her hands behind her back and a soft smile plastered on her face.
Henry gulped, "Nothing. Just thinking about some things." He tried to act nonchalant, casual even.
She pressed, "What things?"
"Trust, things you would not want to know. At least for now." Henry then changed the subject, "Anyways, we can't overstay our welcome here. Once the meeting is done, we'll have to leave and go back."
"I know. Mother already informed me about it. That's why I came to find you. I wanted to give you something. Give me your hand." She then finally revealed her hands that had been hiding behind her back.
It was a bunch of flower petals tied together, forming a small wrist accessory that she immediately tied around the wrist of Henry's extended hand.
"That's my lucky charm for you." She happily quipped before turning into a cute glare, "Don't you dare to remove that!"
Henry unconsciously nodded his head, now that he got a closer look on the flower bracelet. He noticed that the bracelet was conjoined using a single thick strand of black hair.
Henry instantly knew what it meant and so is Rapunzel when she noticed his expression, "Don't worry! I only used a single strand of my hair. It might look thick but that's because the strand I plucked is the longest, trust me, I know." She puffed up her chest in pride.
"I asked mother earlier to help me make it. What do you think?" She slightly fiddled with her hair when she asked.
"Looks good. Using your own hair just tripled its value." Henry raised his head and flashed her a smile, "I love it, Rapunzel. Thank you. I promise you, I won't take it off."
While Rapunzel's face turned beet red, the two of them failed to notice the single strand of hair suddenly gaining a feint golden sheen that disappeared just as fast as it appeared.
———
"I'll see you on your birthday, okay? Don't forget about me…" In Corona Kingdom's front gate, just before the long bridge, the citizens, including the royal King and Queen and Princess Rapunzel were standing side by side while saying their farewells.
The citizens were cheering and waving their hands at the departing guests—more specifically at Henry, their Kingdom's hero who brought their beloved princess back.
While climbing atop Boy's saddle, who looked a bit off than usual, Maximus neared his horse beside Henry's "You just never get tired of it, do you? Even back in Lioncrest, your reputation makes it hard for the people to stay calm in your presence."
"I do get tired but more like, I've gotten used to it. Weren't you the same? You're literally one of the best rulers Lioncrest Kingdom ever had."
Maximus shook his head, "I'm a King, their reactions when seeing me are mixed with excitement and fear. While yours are one-sided, only excitement." He then turned his head to stare at a distant hill, "Not to mention, once you take the seat, no doubt you'll outshine not just me but even the previous Kings of Lioncrest."
His words made Henry stop for a brief second, his brows frowning, for a moment a sense of exhaustion flashed within his eyes before recovering.
"Stop glazing me and lead the way. Their throats are starting to itch by shouting their farewells for us." True to his words, some of the citizens were already awkwardly stepping back and massaging their throats.
"Right." Even just watching them, Maximus felt his throat also getting itchy. So he coughed and finally moved on, leading the way with Ser Liam on his side.
Speaking of Ser Liam. The Grandmaster Knight was nowhere to be found last night.
'He must've been at the knight barracks. Perhaps testing his swordplay with the Corona Knights.' Henry assumed in his mind. Feeling a slight jealousy that the man was able to spar freely with knights.
While here he is, he barely gets to fight with swords anymore and had to deal with supernatural enemies using supernatural means.
———
They reached Lioncrest without a hitch. Why would there be? A Grandmaster Knight, and two powerful wizards, even if the Bandit King himself sees them on the road, he might even use his own shirt to clean the dirty ground before them.
Unfortunately, his mother was too occupied with certain matters that she wasn't available to greet them at the royal gates. Though he didn't mind it considering that she promised him to make his birthday as grand as possible.
Back in his room. Henry was packing a few things in his satchel, "Do I really need to do this now? You know my birthday is next week, right? And here you are, sending me to a near-suicide mission to take on a literal Dark Fey that can only be found in the legends. All to rescue my brother, who, may I remind you, wants to kill and replace me in return."
Behind him, standing by the door, Master Elias had his arms crossed, "You're right about the first few things except for the last one. I'm not telling you to save your brother from being killed, I'm urging you save him from being killed BY Maleficent of all people. You can have him killed by any other people, as long as it's not someone like Maleficent."
"This concerns the entire safety of Lioncrest. So only you can do it, Henry boy."
Henry stopped in his tracks, he then sharply turned around to face the old master, "And why can't you do it then? You're stronger than me, know more than me, better than me, and knowing you, you probably already know the outcome regarding this matter."
"I've been meaning to ask you this however, I just kept quiet because I trust you. But now that you're pushing me to stop a being that could probably kill me with a flick of her wrist, I'm asking it now."
Master Elias kept quiet, simply listening as Henry continued, "You can see the future. Use it to your advantage to win things for yourself. I feel like you've been using me for many things. I've been cleaning up everything you throw at me and sure, I'm thankful for it because it taught me many things and also made me stronger but is there a stop to this?"
"Do I at least get a rest after all of this? Or am I gonna continue until I'm all pent up and dead?"
Seeing Master Elias quiet, Henry sighed in defeat, "I'm sorry. Must've been the exhaustion getting into me. Forget about all I just said." He waved his hand in dismissal and resumed packing things.
Only for him to stop again when Master Elias finally spoke, his voice more raspy than usual and seemingly out of breath, "Henry boy."
Henry stopped, but he didn't turn around, only waiting for Master Elias to continue.
And continue he did, "If I still have the energy in my aging body, I would've solved all the existing problems in this Kingdom in a matter of days."
"…Why do you sound like you're going to die?" He shifted his head to look behind him and saw that the old man was now staring out at the window, his back faced against him.
His raspy voice didn't reply to his question, instead he continued where he left off earlier, "Henry boy. This Kingdom, no, this entire world needs someone who shoulder its weight. The future is grim. It looks all sunshine and rainbows as of now but that's because the monsters are still hiding under our beds, waiting for us to let down our guard, to fall asleep and when we do, they'll pounce on us like a bunch of hyenas."
Henry found himself both curious and confused at the vague statement, "I don't get it. Can you be more detailed?"
Master Elias shook his head, "Bloodbaths, Henry. Have you ever seen a six-sided war? With each side representing its own forces of nature. Gods and Goddesses, Humans and Non-Humans, Wizards and Witches. The future is grim and dark, Henry. I've never seen such a grand and large war that will kill millions every day."
Master Elias finally turned around to face him. His face looking more wrinkly and aged than before, as if he had just witnessed a traumatizing experience in a short amount of time.
"I've been carrying this burden for years now, Henry. I felt trapped and caged. This became my responsibility now that I'm one of the only few who know about it."
His raspy voice quivered, "And I can't do it alone. I've already lived past my youthful days. I'm not immortal, I have my own limits and it pains me to say this but…"
Master Elias forced a smile, "I'm already at my limit, Henry. I can't be the one to bring this world to salvation."
"But you, my boy, you can. You need to become the hero of this world. Your heavenly talent can save this world from its grim future." Approaching Henry, Madyer Elias planted both his palms on each of his shoulders.
"You're a good man, Henry."
—————————————
[Honestly, if there is one thing I forgot about Henry. It's his character development. My unplanned and aimless writing style have stagnated his growth, so in this Maleficent arc and the next few ones, we're going to focus on his own character development.
It's time to move past beyond the sunshine and rainbows and prepare for the nearing climax of the story. Or maybe one of the climaxes of the story?
So no more damsels falling for Henry. I think I've introduced enough side characters for the first half of the story. We'll see in the future if I can still squeeze a few more Disney films to further shape the world.
Tell me what you guys think about it.]