Prince Virgil emerged from his room cautiously dressed in a much simpler outfit like his mother had asked. He brought his cloak closer to his body as he walked down the hall to meet his mother.

He hadn't been down this hall in years, too many bad memories. But now he was forced to overcome his aversion of the hall, oh the things he'd do to make his mother happy. Virgil slowed his pace knowing exactly what would be on his right. But even with the knowledge of where not to look he turned to stare directly at the portrait on the wall.

The portrait had his father and mother standing proud and tall in the background both holding an eight year old's shoulders in a loving way. The eight year old had a big smile as he held a little girl in his arms. The little girl stared up happily at the eight year old.

Even if it was eight years ago Virgil can still remember having that portrait made. Everything was so simple and happy then. A small tear streamed down his cheek as he stood as still as a statue in front of the portrait.

Virgil didn't know how much time passed until a soft hand grabbed his own. He looked up to find his mother with a sad smile on her face.

"I love this portrait don't you?" She asked her son staring at the plethora of happy faces in the picture.

"I-I miss..." He choked out through sobs never finishing his sentence.

"Shh, I know darling," Queen Dalila comforted him, occasionally letting a tear slip out of her own eyes. They both stood like that for a while before heading down the rest of the hall to complete the tradition.

"Virgil darling, I know you are upset but you have to do this," she whispered to the grief stricken boy beside her.

"I-I know," He mumbled drying his eyes before facing the door in front of them. The door was a dark ember red like the majority of the palace seemed to be. There were large prices of glass shaped like moon phases that showed him the dark forest beyond it.

"Alright I suppose you might want to know what you're getting into before exiting?" She asked him only to be met with a nod from her son.

"Well, every prince when they came of age was to go on a quest. Since your coming of age is tomorrow it is your time to complete  this quest." She began with a frown which ultimately didn't help with Virgil's nerves.

"You are to exit the palace and live off of the royal life for three days. However you must gather a special rock from beside the border for the quest to be completed." She finished, head hung slightly lower than when she started. Virgil just starred in utter shock. The one thing he was told to avoid all his life was where he had to venture.

"Darling if your not ready we can wait a few days!" His mother suggested quickly.

"N-No! I've got this, I need to." Virgil stated determinedly with a small hint of fear in his voice.

"If you really insist on going..." Queen Dalila began before sighing, "just be careful dearest, I can't loose you too." She said hugging him lightly.

"I promise I'll be fine mother," Virgil mumbled hugging her back before pulling back and starring back at the ominous door in front of him.

He took a few breaths in and out like Emile suggested to help him calm before shooting his mother a small smile and turning the knob.

Once he was completely out of the door it loudly slammed shut startling the prince. The edge of the forest was only a few feet away but he could already hear the noises from the rabid beasts that occupied it.

Instead of stepping towards the creepy forest he did what a normal person would do and sprinted as fast as he could away from it. Sure he had no idea where he was going and yes maybe it wasn't the smartest decision to run with your eyes closed but, it was defiantly what everyone else would have done.

Yeah sprinting while practically blind was an awful idea. Virgil ended up tripping over a tree root and tumbling down a large hill hitting multiple branches and tiny rocks along the way. After finally loosing all momentum he sat up wincing in pain. He was pretty sure he had multiple scrapes, was bleeding, and had a minor concussion but all in all he was fine. Defiantly. At least that's what he kept telling himself.

The story is finally going somewhere. Or is it? No it is.

I hope you enjoyed! 💜