Welcome to Gaia! ::

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"My lord, it is time to arise.. " whispered the elderly servant to the young prince who was sleeping so soundly. This had probably been the fourth time, trying to wake the weary prince, and just like the other times, he simply rolled over and attempted to dismiss the servant. However, this time, "by order of the king he was to rise at once.", as stated by the attendant. The prince knew what day it was. He knew what event was to take place, and that reason alone, made him want to stay in bed even longer. Alas, he knew his father would give him trouble. The oh-so-terrible King, was quite the threat, not only in the kingdom of Toryn, but to the other kingdoms around. A low grumble escaped him as he sat up onto his bed, forcing himself out of it.
The commotion of the commoners and merchants outside of his chambers were rather loud this morning. He walked over to the nearest window and scoffed. "This kingdom has always been quite homely...Once I'm king, I'll need to change a few things around here.." He spoke this under his breath and tore his gaze away from the unsightly visage. Ever since the war, everything has come to look grotesque. With little care and resources, our home was now in shambles. And it was all the Faes fault. Their unnatural abilities has become a threat to all beings aside themselves. We could have taken down those creatures had it not been for our current state. But now, Vale must face a different event, the undesirable marriage.

He was going to meet his fiancée today, some Fae princess that he had no connection to. They were just to be used as propaganda for the citizens. Of course, he tried to argue, but the iron-fisted king gave him no say. Vale began his normal morning duties, all ending with him sitting at the long table, with his father at the other end. The king glared at the raven-haired prince and continued to eat his morning meal. "Yes, yes..I'll behave." Vale stated reassuringly to the king and arose from his seat. "For now." He added exiting the room and returning to his chambers until his time of freedom was up.

-Time skip-

As the young Prince sat in his chamber, the day-to-day merchant calling, cheering crowds, and occasional drunk fights came to a chilling silence. Vale furrowed his eyebrows and walked to the window once more. Within seconds, he knew why. Vale could swear up and down Faes attracted too much attention to themselves, whether they were trying to or not. Vale sucked his teeth and proceeded to exit his chamber and head towards the audience hall where the meet-n-greet were to commence.
Entering the hall, he saw the King and accompanied him near the throne. Their unspoken scowls have become their own language at this point. The king took his seat and began speaking to his advisors while Vale looked towards the entrance of the hall. With arms folded, he thought for a moment about what this girl would look like. Will she look just as unnatural as the Faes' abilities were? Vale didn't know, neither did he really care. He just knew he was going to wed whatever came through that door. Soon he heard the announcement he had been dreading all day, the princess had arrived. He watched her walk in, courtesy, and flash a bright smile, thanking us on behalf of their king. Vale didn't crack even a grin towards this girl. He felt disgusted towards this female magic user. However, her outside appearance wasn't as grotesque as he would have imagined. In the midst of his thoughts, the king of Toryn arose from his throne, raised his arms above his head, and flashed his prize-winning smile, "It is an honor to have you, Princess. Welcome to Toryn." He stated looking over to the prince. Vale glanced at the king and then back towards the outsider. "Welcome...", he started, unfolding his arms. "And what has your king sent us, dear princess of the Fae kingdom of Zimid?" he asked mockingly pacing slowly in her direction. The king said nothing but kept his eye on the pale prince.

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Vale continue to gaze at the princess, even after she rudely blocked him out with the list of unneeded hand-outs. The arrogance of the girl was almost insulting. It seemed as though their king pitied the humans. Did we appear this desperate? Vale scoffed and rolled his crimson eyes. He almost wanted to laugh at this girl's response.
To our standards, she says? How degrading this wench was. Just as Vale was going to speak, the king 's voice was heard once again throughout the hall as he delivered a warm smile to the princess. " Thank you very much, young princess. I will be sure to send my gratitude to your king.. " He stated, nodding to the princess. Vale brought his hands to his hips and stared dauntingly towards the arrogant Fae.
Being that Vale was quite a child, he smirked and brought his index and thumb up to his chin, inspecting her. Whist looking her up and down he spoke, " Anything else I'm interested in, you say? " He said, as if to check her out. Though he didn't necessarily care for the girl, he thought it might have been a way to irritate her. As he thought of other ways to sway her, he noticed within his peripheral vision the elites, advisors, and servants were all whispering and gesturing to one another. The gestures seemed to be aimed at the forced couple and their hostile atmosphere. The burning gaze of the King was unnerving. Vale figured he would need to tone down is behavior or else he was going to have to explain to his father why he was unable to keep a simple promise of obedience.
Catching the princess's unsettling eye contact, Vale smiled deviously. The king smiled once again and spoke, " Why dear princess, it would be a pleasure fulfilling your request. My son would love to escort you around our fine establishment. Our top priority, is that you are comfortable in our home. Isn't that right, Vale? " The king asked with his normal monotone voice, excluding the emphasis placed on Vale's name. Vale, of course, knew what this meant. Though vale would rather jump out of his chamber window, he figured his father's wraith was more terrifying than anything else.
" Why, of course! Such....beauty...deserves to be given the greatest tour. And I would love nothing more than for your escort to be me. " Vale stated almost sarcastically as he bowed nice and low for the princess and began taking long strides in her direction. It didn't take very long for him to be within half and arm's length in front of her, gliding his hand along her shoulder and up to her chin, where he raised it slightly and looked down upon her. In the eyes of bystanders, this seemed to look practically romantic. He glared at her and snickered. " Shall we be off then, fair lady? " He whispered as he about-faced and walked in the opposite direction. In front of him was the door leading to a long passage way.
The passage was dimly lit with beeswax candles and decorated with fully armored statues wielding the occasional sword or spear. At the end of the passage was a large, sturdy door which led to the main corridor of the castle. This corridor, much like the passage, was stone built and decorated with the finest weaponry and pieces of art. Two bending staircases sat in the middle of the corridor and merged into one at it's peak. These stairs led to a two way hall one going left and the other right. Below the stairs was another passage, leading to another part of the castle along with the right side of the stair on the first floor. Red carpets draped the stairs with small golden tassels on the ends. The corridor was well-lit, showing all of the vibrant colors of the corridor stained windows. The prince of the grandeur castle stood in the middle of the corridor and sighed. He would occasionally look at one of the servants scurrying around to go clean or prepare the next meal. Vale waited for the Princess and her response to the Humans' standard of living and waited for yet another obnoxious comment.

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After a few moments of uncomfortable silence between the two royals, he watched the princess walk right past him and began to explore on her own. Vale shook his head, " Such an idiotic girl.. " He thought to himself and began to follow her so that the daunting female doesn't get lost and get him in deep trouble for not being the proper escort.

He followed her for a bit, deeper into the corridor. He didn't necessarily care if she led herself, but he wasn't about to follow the girl in a lost silence all throughout the castle. They may not like each other, but unfortunately, they were going to have to speak to one another sooner or later. Picking up her pace, he walked alongside her with some distance in between them. " Theatre must be very common in your kingdom...You're quite the actress, I must say." He stated without looking in her direction. Though he wasn't much of an actor, his sarcasm was enough to fool the dimwitted elites. However, now that he was speaking to her with all seriousness, needed to speak were her on a private note.

He glanced around to make sure the other servants weren't nearby. He looked at her from the corner of his eye and continued, " That aside, I'm sure you realize this transaction won't go smoothly with us bickering. I suggest you get accustomed to this "downgrade", your highness.. " He stated glaring at her for a moment and faced their walking direction once more. The noises their footsteps made echoed throughout the corridor. Around this corridor stood many doors, simply wooden with steel bars across them.

These many doors led to simple rooms like studies, dining halls, kitchens, resting rooms, libraries which contained articles of all kinds, and meeting rooms. Some other rooms were forbidden to enter, even from the prince. A couple doors led downstairs into the cellar where wine and other alcoholic beverages were stored. Upstairs were a plethora of sleeping chambers, lavatories, baths, and such with a balcony in every room.

Regardless of where she looked or traveled he was destined to follow her until she's satisfied with her tour. " What is it you Faes do with your down time? Concoct potions and whatnot? Do you have any hobbies? Or maybe you're just constantly sassy and bitter.. " He asked, stating the last part under his breath, possibly loud enough for the Fae to hear the human prince. Then again, who knew? Maybe the Faes had super hearing.

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Her responses made Vale chuckle and nod his head. This girl was much more interesting than the promiscuous and annoyingly desperate human women of the kingdom. The female Fae had one snarky comment after the other. At this rate, she was going to become a pain in the rear-end.

When speaking of caring for a brat, the prince couldn't retort because of the fact that it was probably true. However he didn't dismiss it as an insult. The prince simply shrugged and chuckled once more. " My my, getting quite riled up aren't we? I only asked a simple question milady. And though youre a.. " He paused to clear his throat, "...magic user...I haven't directly insulted your race...just yet. Though it appears you have no trouble at all insulting mine, yes?" He asked, eyeing her and smirking. His grin grew wider with every mocking look he received from the Fae. Listening to her, he recalled why he asked about her hobbies in the first place. "Well, princess, it probably won't satisfy you, but we do have a vast garden in the back of the castle where you can visit at any time you wish. " He stated while pointing in another direction where the supposed garden was to be located."And if your done mocking me, I wish to add how...intriguing you magic users are. With all of these strange roles you Faes have, it's hard to imagine the type of government you run." For once he actually seemed interested in how those monsters live. Having so much power, it's almost hard to believe they haven't turned on each other yet. Perhaps, maybe this was simply a human thing.

His hobbies? The sassy Fae actually asked what his hobbies were? Vale couldn't help but laugh. Hell, he was surprised enough she kept the conversation going. Vale placed his hands in the pockets of his silk pants and looked at her in a bit of a proud manner. "I suppose you were a bit correct on your previous statement. I do get quite messy at times. My hobby is jousting. I'm quite the knight in shining armor in this kingdom." He stated poking out his chest and smiling. "Perhaps you'd wish to see me in my armor, princess?" he said in a flirty tone, only because he knew it irritated her. Thinking back on it, Vale knew there was nothing he liked more than a good joust! He practiced whenever he had a lot of leisure time on his hands. He would ever get the servants out of work just to practice with him. Near the gardens was a couple of jousting tracks for where they held kingdom competitions annually. Once he was finished boasting, he looked around them.

They were at the top of the stairs on the second floor of the castle. With the conversation they were having, he had forgotten that he was giving her a tour. He sighed and pulled one hand out of his pockets and pointed down the left hall. "These are all of the sleeping chambers, mainly for important guests who arrive from afar. Mine is at the very end of the hall." He paused as he then pointed to the right hall, "These are all of the bathrooms and lavatories and such. We have many rooms made specifically for relaxation. If you ever want a good massage, find Carrie. She'll put you to sleep." He snickered and began walking down the left hall, with all of the chambers. "Do Faes even sleep? You magical beings should be able to just keep yourselves awake with your powers, no?" He asked curiously. All human believed magic was powerful enough to do practically anything with ease. If there's one thing Vale knew, humans have always had to work for their things. They may not be the greatest race, but at least they couldn't just magically bend things to their will and convenience. But, of course, he didn't say this out loud. The last thing he wanted was a debate with such a difficult person.

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As the Fae princess spoke, the human prince simply nodded. He was perfectly fine with showing her the garden since it would be apart of the tour anyway. However, with her actually asking to go to a specific place I the castle made him chuckle a bit. He thought about what other places in the castle she would be interested in, but alas, there weren't a lot of options for the Fae's enjoyment.

Soon his thoughts were interrupted when she began to explain the organization of the Fae government. Vale was a bit confused on how similar their governments were. Not only that, Vale didn't seem to recognize any court wizards or whatever. Then again, he didn't really care about who worked with his father. And hearing her speak of the older times, when the kingdoms were close together made him cringe. How the kingdoms were able to get along back then, were beyond him. But, he simply nodded to the princess. And after doing so, he blinked at the fact he didn't have a retort. He was accepting her words as they were. The prince tensed up, realizing they were actually having a clean conversation about one another, learning. It was...a very strange feeling. At first he was completely appalled by the female and her race. In fact, he couldn't say he wasn't still appalled however he could tell something was changing. She was still annoyingly sassy, but still explained the truth behind the Faes and what their world is like. Vale was actually starting to notice many human myths and thoughts about Faes were left field. However, she could just be telling lies to him. Just trying to make it as if they weren't so different. He know the two races could not truly stand together ever again. This marriage was simply going to fall apart just like the original friendship between the kingdoms, and we will be in war once more. It was only a matter of time.

Breaking away from his thoughts of the inevitable, he looked back at her with a smirk. "Oh please, I'm sure you'd love to see me in my gear. I believe I'm quite the looker. I could prove it to you, easy!" He said jokingly to her and gave a hearty laugh.

After he asked his, apparently, idiotic question, he couldn't help but snicker. She was getting so annoyed over a question most humans have been wondering about. Seeing that the Fae had such magical abilities, the humans simply assumed they could do practically anything. But, as proven wrong by the princess, they cannot, which impressed the prince. He watched her shake her head in astonishment. What could he say? We wouldn't know unless we asked right? This made him wonder how far their magic could go. What was the utmost limit to their abilities? Or maybe weaknesses? He could probably find out with a bit more prying. Especially since she is allowing him to ask any questions he may have about their abilities, which was perfect for him. Maybe he would tell the king and try to finally win his father's approval. Maybe.

Before, it was a simply request. Now, it seemed she demanded to see their garden. He smirked at her and shrugged. "Fine. Follow me please." He stated as he turned on his heel and led her back down the carpeted staircase. He went across the corridor and down the hallway below the stairs which led to the many steel plated doors. At the end of said hallway, a light shown through a very large two-door exit. As he approached it and pushed it, a bright ray of light forced it's way into the dimly lit castle.

The outdoors seemed to be much brighter than when the princess arrived. Slightly clouded with a gentle breeze was felt as he peered out passed the outdoor pillars. The pavement past the pillars led to an archway covered with...err..plants? Vale never really had a clue of what each was. He just knew them as flowers and grass and leaves. He never really cared much for the garden in general. The path that went through the green archway led to a sea of flowers and other plant life strung throughout the land behind the castle which eventually led to the wooded area. Here and there was a fountain or a small statue. The pathway swerved and streaked the garden so maneuverability was easy. Many colors could be seen however, with the declining amount of resources the kingdom was facing, it has become rather difficult for the workers to keep up with such a massive garden. It was apparent that some of the flowers with withering and some plant life, turned lifeless instead.

Vale slipped his hands deep within his pockets once more and looked to the princess. "This is the garden.. Now what were you saying about teaching me what magic really was? I would just love a good demonstration, princess."

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Without much of a response from the princess, he simply followed her to see what exactly she was about to do. Walk around? Gaze at daisies? Scold him for not keeping up with the plants? Whatever it was, he would just shrug it off. That is until he watched her crouch near a bed of flowers that seemed to be dying, if not already dead. He crouched somewhat behind her and slightly to the left so he could see what she was doing. He questioned why she was feeling the dirt on the ground as she let if fall back to the earth. Vale laughed to himself, was she even going to use her powers or whatever or was she going to keep playing in the dirt? He even began to doubt her abilities until she cupped her hands and began blowing on them. His eyes grew in awe as he witnessed her hands change in to a glowing green color. Despite the long ago friendship and even the war, he hasn't seen magic using up this close. Perhaps afar, but not within arm's reach. He never cared as much, he simply listened to the stories told by the servants while a stayed in his chambers majority of his time when he wasn't practicing his Joust.

She placed a soft touch to the leaf of a flower slowly becoming deceased. As she did this, the flower seemed to regain life in mere seconds. The flower stood as if reaching for the sky, the withered petals were replaced by beautiful new ones. Vale crawled a bit closer, not to be near the Fae but, of course, to have a greater view of such an event. Vale couldn't remember the last time he's seen any of the plants this green. Not since the spring before the war. He looked at her, the princess seeming to be within deep concentration. He wished to say something, but he waited until she was finished with her hocus pocus and whatnot.


After gaping at the flower for a couple minutes, a perplexed look came across the human's face. What was she looking for? The flower was alive and well again, why was she just staring at it? Such a strange Fae...But yet he simply watched it along side her, trying to see what she was looking for as well. Without obtaining an answer, he continued to monitor her, following her stance. As she stood, she grabbed a handful of dirt again. What is with this girl and dirt? He couldn't comprehend the passion these Fae share with plants and nature and such. It was almost hilarious, really. She began blowing on the dirt instead of letting it fall, this time. The change in actions made him focus on her.

It took her a moment, but after awhile she began spreading the dirt she blew on all over the place. In his eyes, she almost looked like a nut job. She kept repeating this action and it made Vale crack a smile. But, of course, she amazed him before, so he wouldn't be surprised if she did it again. Soon, the many flowers in the bed were rejuvenated and dancing. Vale took in the astonishing visage and simply nodded. He began pacing around the bed to admire her work and after that he began to clap, slowly. "Well, well, well." He started, turning his gaze back to the royal female. "I suppose I should thank you for livening this poor Toryn garden then?" He spoke sarcastically, but he knew well that he was truly amazed with her abilities. Sadly, they weren't as cool as stories told, but amazing none the less. He approached her, and bowed like before. "I humbly thank you, dear princess. As a gift, you can keep this garden if you wish. We don't necessarily have any use for it anymore." rising up from his bow, "And you seem to have quite the green thumb." He laughed and paused to gaze at the flowers once more. He had to admit, Faes were pretty interesting creatures.

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Vale pretty much ignored her first comment and chuckled. "I'm sure you will." He stated with a simple sigh. He studied her motions all throughout the garden, smiling at the plants and sniffing the flowers. If the girl wasn't a Fae he would have probably questioned her sanity. Why would someone care for such a massive waste was beyond his comprehension but he could see she was happy. When the Fae princess is happy she's less cheeky, which was fine with Vale. As he watched her however, he saw that the flower crumbled soon smelling the flower. The flower she just rejuvenated. At this point, Vale couldn't help himself. He busted out laughing loudly. A moment ago, he was completely in awe of her abilities, only to find out she could barely handle this small human garden. After laughing heartily for a minute, Vale wiped the single tear that was forming and attempted to calm himself. "Looks like there's a lot of work to be done, right princess?" He said pushing his bangs away from his face and placing his hands on his hips.

When he finally settled down, he almost began laughing again when she started up again, playing in the dirt and erecting flowers all over the place. She's at it again. Vale could barely hold in his laughter, such an amusing girl. Vale followed behind her closely until she attempted to dismiss Vale. Attempted. The prince smirked. As much as he wanted to leave her in her own little world, he was to be her escort. Vale wasn't sure if their tour was to be over or not, but he wasn't about to risk it with his father. Besides that, however, he felt that even if he went anywhere else, he would simply be bored. "Does that mean I'm also free to stay? Because that's what I'll be doing instead." He retorted following her, not as closely as before. "Perhaps I'll leave later to go practice...." He thought to himself and shrugging. He realized he hadn't jousted in quite awhile since he had been occupied mentally preparing himself to meet this Fae female. Since the wedding news, he hadn't touched his lance. He looked over his shoulder towards the direction of the jousting field. However, from where they were standing he couldn't see it from there. "Oh well." He thought turning his attention back to the Fae. She seemed deep in thought for some reason. Why was she thinking so hard? She looked ridiculous. She was even talking to herself. Vale snickered but tried to stay quiet while she wracked her brain over half-dead plants. What on earth could she be questioning? Why her powers weren't working on the plants?

Though he tried to be quiet, he just simply couldn't. Not while she was looking so idiotic with such a look on her face. "What could you possibly be thinking about?" He asked as he eyed the princess and the flowers once more. "Whatever it is, is it really worth all of that thought? You're just now seeing the garden and you're already putting so much effort into it." He chuckled, raising his hand and gesturing the flower beds all around. "You'll be here for quite awhile, so what is your reason for trying to spruce up the land in just a day?" He asked in all seriousness. You would assume someone would try to settle in the day of travelling but yet here she is trying to solve an unnecessary problem. It was certainly perplexing to him. But he realized she was Fae after all. Have they always been so lively?