"Princess!"

The door to the captain's cabin jolted open as Ansel ran in to make sure that the Princess of Eos had not been harmed.

To his surprise, the Princess of Eos didn't have a single scratch on her. She was backed up against a wall and sitting down, her head in her knees. Ansel could make out some whimpering noises.

"GET AWAY FROM-"

The princess's shout turned into silence as she saw Ansel's scarred face, oozing with blood.

"Princess... I doubt you know who I am, but I'm here to save you. The pirate king who took you from home is dead, and now I'm here to rescue you."

She lifted her eyes just a little bit and looked Ansel in the eyes. He saw an emptiness in her. "What does it matter? That demon they replaced me with is set to die within a day, and they will blame you, Lightsworn. It is no longer safe for you in the lands."

Ansel sighed. "Princess, I don't mean to sound nonchalant or sarcastic, but it hasn't been safe for me in these lands for a couple years."

"You don't understand! It isn't safe for you and you need to survive!" 

"Why do I need to survive if all I am is expendable to every person I meet!?"

Ansel stepped back, and realized what had just come out of his mouth. All of the crap that he had been through had lead to that one outburst. That one little outburst that made the Princess of Eos, in all of her beauty and splendor, start to cry.

"Don't you realize that you're the chosen one, you idiot mercenary? All of these things that you have been through, from getting thrown out of your house to everyone in your life using and abandoning you- the Ancient King allowed you to go through all of that stuff because you were born for such a time as this! I do not matter to anyone anymore, but you, you are going to change this nation, this kingdom, these lands, and finally set them free from the terror of long ago!"

Ansel paled. "H-how did you know about my past?"

"The Ancient King blessed me with a gift of foresight. I saw you when you first graced the Grand Palace of Eos with your courage. I saw you consumed with a wall of light, and then I saw you with an army coming to fight the darkness of this land. I saw your past, and that's when the King whispered to me. He said, 'That's the Eighth Son the prophecy was talking about.' That's when I knew that you would do great things."

"But don't you know about yourself?"

"The only curse of being an Oracle of the Ancient King is that one cannot look into their own future. That is why I believe that I am useless now."

Ansel shook his head, consumed with the empathy that he, too knew what it felt like to be alone. "Princess, how can you be useless? How can you be worthless? You are worthy of honor, for you are a royal lady of the Eos Empire!"

"Not anymore. I "die" today in Eos, and everyone will assume that you took my life."

Sorrow had consumed the Princess's voice, and she began to cry. She had wept, and Ansel fell to his knees and held her tight.

"You aren't worthless and alone anymore. Stop crying. Eos is going to need a leader when this is all over with, so you are going to have to lead them."

"B-but you don't understand! You are going to be the King of Eos when this is all over with!"

Ansel stopped holding her and looked her in the eyes with determination.

"Then teach me how a royal person is supposed to be."

The Princess quieted down and stopped crying. 

"Let us leave this quiet hell, and I'm just going to say that I'm taking all of this treasure as payment for all the Hell that I have been through." 

"Milady, what is your name?" Ansel asked, with utter respect for her change in character.

"My name is Cecilia. And please, let us get out of here."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at the hotel room...

Ansel was perplexed. He could not wrap his head around the fact that he was born a chosen one. As he sat in the bathroom tending to his eye, Cecilia and Sonya sat conversing.

"You mean to tell me that the demon is back? He sold you off to a pirate, who cared nothing about having his way with you, and then Ansel saved you?" Sonya asked, also trying to understand what had happened.

"Yes, guardian. If Ido found Ansel here, there's only a matter of time before the demon king devotes all of his resources to finding him." Cecilia said.

Ansel dressed his wound with a bandage that wrapped around his eye, and he came out of the bathroom with a cleaned shirt on.

"My love, do you have any more wounds?" Sonya asked, full of joy and love.

"No, I don't, but if you have any, feel free to let me know, and I'll gladly dress them for you." Ansel shot a smile at Sonya.

The room felt full of tension after that moment, with Ansel trying to figure out what exactly was going on between the two women who sat before him.

"Surely you are hungry; let me fix you something to eat as a payment for saving me!" Cecilia said, with pride and joy.

"No thanks," Ansel coyly declined, "besides, shouldn't I be making the meal since you are royalty?"

"Don't be shrewd, Lightsworn. From here on out, I am no more than a mere commoner." Cecilia replied.

"How about I make dinner?" Sonya asked, leaning down to whisper something in Cecilia's ear.

Cecilia's face twisted, and then she backed away. Ansel felt constrained at all the tension in the room.

"I'm gonna go stand out on the balcony." Ansel walked out of the room and took a breath.

For the first time in his life,  Ansel wasn't alone. Yes, he did feel like the walls were closing in, but as long as he had Sonya, well, Sonya loved him deeply and he knew it.

"If I'm the chosen Eighth Son, I need to figure out what to do next." Ansel spoke aloud to himself.

"We need to go to the Hopeless Heights!" Cecilia shouted from the room.

Ansel walked back in. "Where is that?"

"It's in my homeland," Sonya said, "but if we head there and the Princess of Tesalia hears about- well you know- well, she'll wed us and make us a married couple."

"What's wrong with that?" Cecilia asked. "I mean, look at Ansel. You should have already married a man this handsome. Not to mention heroic."

Ansel blushed and turned away. "Where exactly in Tesalia is the Hopeless Heights?"

"Right above the city of Dynastead. But, first, we must go clear up our... business in the Grand Palace of Tesalia."