And So It Begins

And so begins The Happenings II, Part One. Part one will consist of four (4) chapters when Logan is five (5) years old.
==CHAPTER ONE: AND SO IT BEGINS==
Twenty-seven years had passed since Lucien's defeat and Albion was one of the most desirable and wealthy countries around. The economy was doing very well, due to the might Hero Lionheart's generosity; houses were cheaper to rent which meant nobody was living on the streets, and most regions were now free of bandits, Hobbes and many other dark creatures that use to threaten defenceless travellers.
Our story takes place on the yearly celebration of peace in Albion. People from all corners of Albion would come to Bowerstone Market where the celebrations were always held. It was classified as the best day of the year and it was the one day that the young Prince Logan always looked forward to. At the present time, he was fidgeting as he sat on his parent's bed, as they got ready for the celebrations.
'Logan, please stop fidgeting. We'll get there in time.' His mother told his softly.
Logan looked over at his mother. In his opinion, his mother was the most beautiful woman in the entire universe and the most caring. While she looked as though she was twenty-eight years old, she was in fact fifty-five years old, something Logan found very hard to believe, but he could never tell if she was joking about her age or being serious. His mother had light brown, waist length hair that looked as though it had golden streaks in it in certain lights, soft and caring light green eyes and soft white skin, at least he assumed his mother's skin was naturally white. He never really knew for she was always wearing long sleeves and her dress always fell to the ground, no matter what the weather was like and the skin that you could see was thickly applied with make-up. Logan had never seen his mother without make-up nor without an item of clothing that seemed to cover nearly every inch of her skin. But the one thing that made his mother stand out among the crowd wasn't her beauty or her kind heart, but rather her height. The Queen of Albion was the tallest lady in Albion; in fact she was taller than all men.
'Leave him alone, my beloved,' Logan's father said, walking out of the bathroom already dressed in his royal suit. 'He's just excited about the celebrations. Not everyone can be boring like you!' he added teasingly, before ducking as his mother sent a cushion flying at him.
Logan smiled as he watched his parents. Every movement they made showed how much they loved each other. Even the way they talked to each other was full of love, especially when the king called the queen his beloved. At first Logan thought that his father was just calling his mother that to say that he loved her, but he soon discovered that his mother's name actually meant "beloved", so his father was still calling his mother by her name, when you think about it.
Logan turned his attention to his father who was currently looking for his hooded cloak. Just like his mother, Logan's father looked younger than he really was. When you first looked at him, you'd think that he was thirty years old, but then you looked more closely and you could see a sort of wisdom in his eyes. A wisdom that could not be obtained in a library or bookstore. Anyway, every time Logan asked his father how old he was, he would not answer, but if his mother was in the room she would call his father ancient saying that he was five hundred and something years old. Logan knew that his mother was joking when she said that, even though she would always say that she was being quite serious. Logan's father was also quite handsome. He had dark brown hair and dark green eyes, which seemed to hold some secret past. He also had a small brown chin puff and a birth mark underneath one of his eyes that looked strangely like a love heart. His mother always said it was a love heart because he was showing off what a lovable man he was. She always said it jokingly for it was a private joke that Logan never understood. Anyway, despite his father obvious good looks, the king always insisted on wearing a hooded cloak so no one could see what he looked like. In fact, nobody did know what the king looked like except Logan and the queen. Logan was warned years ago that he was never allowed to tell anybody what his father looked like, something Logan didn't understand. In fact, there were a lot of things about his parents he didn't understand. Like why his father always seemed to disappear from time to time or why he father always said that people had a death wish when they annoyed the queen saying that she was a fearless warrior. How could his mother be a fearless warrior when she was clearly couldn't hurt a fly?
'Amy, where's my hooded cloak?' Logan's father asked, interrupting Logan from his thoughts.
'It should be on the bed where you left it, River.' answered the Amy, getting up to help River look.
'Well it's not there now. Logan, have you seen it?'
'No Daddy.' Logan answered.
River groaned and looked under the bed.
'Why do you need it anyway, Daddy?' Logan asked innocently. 'Wouldn't it be more fun and cooler to go without it?'
'Indeed it would, my son, but I must not leave or be seen without it on.' answered River, he was now looking in the wardrobe again.
'But why?' whined Logan.
'You'll understand when you're older, Logan.'
'And when will that be? Will it be next year when I'm six or in many more years' time?' demanded Logan.
'It will be when you are ready to handle the truth.' Amy answered gently, before walking over to Storm, her old dog. 'Come on, hope off River's cloak, boy.'
Storm cocked his head back and forth innocently.
'Storm, I know that you've got it.' laughed Amy.
Storm seemed to groaned and hopped out of bed, revealing River's cloak.
'How - when did he take it?' exclaimed River, walking over and taking his cloak off Amy, who was getting the dog hairs off it.
'Probably when we had our backs turned,' mused Amy. 'I've noticed that he has been taking many things lately, and I don't know why.'
'Probably just a faze,' shrugged River as he put on his cloak and hid his face. He obliviously thought it was nothing to worry about.
'Maybe,' muttered Amy, but she didn't look convinced.
'Mummy? Daddy? Can we go know?' Logan asked, standing up on their bed.
'Yes, I think we can go know, but first, come here and put on your crown.' answered Amy, trying to put the young prince's crown on.
'Why do I have to wear it? I hate wearing it!' complained Logan.
You sound like your father,' mutter Amy.
'Oi!' River exclaimed.
'That was a compliment, dear.'
'Sure it was,' mumbled River, before taking Logan in his arms and leading the way to the carriages.
'Daddy! I can walk!' said Logan.
'Oh really?' River asked slowly, before he started to tickle his son.
'Daddy! Let go! Stop it, please!' giggled Logan. 'Mummy! Tell him to stop!'
'Come on River, leave him alone.' laughed Amy, stopping in front of them.
'Lucky Mummy was there to save you,' joked River, putting his son down.
'More like lucky you had stopped. After all, nobody messes with a mother's greatest treasure.' Amy laughed, wrapping her arm around River's waist.
'Nobody should mess with a mother when their child is in danger.' agreed River as they continued down towards the carriage. 'Especially when that child is yours.'
'Good morning your majesties and your highness,' the carriage man said, when the family arrived outside.
'Good morning to you too, Nick.' Amy greeted, before helping her son inside.
On the short journey to Bowerstone Market, Logan listened as his mother complained about no longer being able to walk or run anywhere any more. Logan couldn't imagine in mother running.
-----THE HAPPENINGS-----
The celebrations began like all the past celebrations. Queen Amy welcomed them all before going off to mingle with her people to see what areas need improvement and just to get a general gist of what her people were feeling. King River normally sat on his throne watching everything that was happening, but Logan swore that his father's gaze never left him as he explored Bowerstone. Sometimes he would try to talk with the other kids but they always acted weird around him so he was never able to make any friends. His parents and Storm were his only friends as well as a few members of staff.
Then, as the sun was setting, Amy announced that the entertainment for the festival was about to begin and everyone went to take their seats. Amy and River sat on their thrones, while Logan sat excitedly on the edge of the platform the thrones were on.
'Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Queen Amy, King River and Prince Logan, it is my pleasure to announce that this year we will be re-counting the tale of the mighty Lionheart and Lord Lucien Fairfax's downfall.' announced the gypsy storyteller. Many people began muttering amongst themselves excitedly.
Logan moved closer to the edge eagerly. He had heard his people talking about this mighty Hero, but every time he asked his parents about her they would either change the subject or tell him to go outside and play.
As the storyteller began the story, Logan looked back at his parents. He couldn't tell what his father was thinking, but his mother looked highly amused, though he couldn't see anything funny. It must be an adult thing, but as he looked around, he saw none of the adults looking amused. Logan shrugged it off and listened to the story.
'Little is known of the beautiful but brave Lionheart's past except the fact that she seemed to appear out of nowhere once she had defeated the bandit leader Thag the Impatient, who had a nasty habit of ambushing defenceless travellers and traders.' The storyteller said, once everyone had quietened down. 'At first the people didn't know what to think of her. After all, she was an eighteen year old girl running around in her bra and pauper skirt and boots, geared up with weapons that most ladies wouldn't even dare to look at, with her faithful dog by her side. So she was given some praise for defeating Thag, but then it became old news and the people forgot about it. Then, out of the blue, the news reached us that she had defeated another bandit leader; Dash. This of course sparked a lot of interest. Who was this girl? Where did she come from? Was she in fact some sort of elite guard undercover to defeat all bandits? No one knew, until twenty-seven years ago when we all learnt the truth. She was one her way to defeating Lucien. Why was she to defeat Lucien? From what we know, she had to stop him from destroying our beloved Albion.
'After her victory, the Hero had become a threat to bandits and the bandits didn't appreciate it, but her victory was necessary to prove herself to the Abbott of the Temple of Light, at the time. She proved herself to be a capable warrior and thus was given the duty to protect the Abbott's adopted daughter, Sister Hannah. Little did we know that the Hero was in fact very interested in this young female monk, and so the Hero helped the monks of the Temple of Light in the ritual of the Golden Oak, but it was not a day to be celebrated. One of Lucien's men came and tried to take Sister Hannah and when she refused, he murdered her father. This led to his own death, and after the Abbott's funeral, the truth was revealed to Sister Hannah about her role in Lucien's downfall, and hence, the Hero of Strength appeared to the world known as Hammer. Months past from this meeting where the Hero accomplished many more quests, during which time, Hammer came to terms of her beloved father's death and her role in the future. After defeating a hundred hollow men in the Bowerstone Cemetery, bringing peace to a man and his ex-lover's ghost, and searching Albion for hidden artefacts, the Hero was once more on the lookout for another Hero, the Hero of Will.
'The Hero of Will turned out to be a scholar that went by the name of Garth. The Hero's journey led her to Brightwood where she arrived too late to stop Lucien getting his hands on this mage and scholar. Due to this dilemma, the Hero had to find a way into the Tattered Spire, and what better way to do this than to prove one's self worthy of being in Lucien's army than by becoming victorious is the famous arena in Westcliffe; the Crucible. To say that the Hero was victorious would have been an understatement. She smashed all the current records; including Mad-Dog "The Strangler" McGraw, and to this day, no one has been able to beat her score. Upon her victory, she helped those that needed help before leaving for the Spire, never knowing whether she will see our beloved Albion again. After ten years, the people of Albion believed that they would never see her again and then she appeared once more with Garth right beside her. She had done the unspeakable and had escaped from the Spire!
'So now the Hero had two other Heroes by her side, but there was one more that she needed to find...The Hero of Skill. During her long absence, Hammer had discovered that the Hero of Skill was the Pirate King, Reaver. But please don't be mistaken by the name. It is not Reaver the first, the first pirate king after Captain Dread five hundred years ago -'
'You sure about that?' Logan heard his father chuckle quietly. This comment confused Logan. Of course it had to be a different Reaver. No one could live that long and still look young, screw the young part; no one could even live that long at all.
'- but rather one of his descendants. Scary enough, all his descendant's look exactly the same -'
'I can't believe people are so gullible,' River chuckled again.
'But if they weren't, you would have had killed all of Bloodstone by now.' Amy said pointedly.
'Not all of them. Only the ones that annoyed me.' disagreed River.
Logan looked back at his parents. What were they talking about, and what did they mean about River killing people? River wasn't a murderer. He wasn't like a pirate, bandit or Reaver!
'Anyway, after playing a few "games" with the pirate and avoiding Lucien's men, the Hero now had all three Heroes by her side and together they represented the last of all Heroes in Albion.' The storyteller said, interrupting Logan's thoughts. 'The details on what happened next are unclear, but what we do know is that they all ended up in the Spire and it was there that Lucien met his untimely death. And it was there that a wish was made...the Hero's wish. She was given the choice to bring back all those that had died in the making of the Spire, bring back her beloved dog, Storm, whom Lucien had killed, or to have more wealth than could be imagined.'
Logan had given a start when he heard the name of the dog. Could it be that his mother's beloved dog could be the one in the story? Nah, his mother's dog couldn't be Lionheart's dog, for the storyteller just said that the Hero was selfless and had wished for sacrifice. Besides, if Storm was Lionheart's dog, that would make his mother Lionheart, and that was just impossible. Logan's mother was to gentle and kind too be anything like Lionheart.
'- after Lucien's defeat no one knows what ever happened to Hammer, Garth and Reaver,' the storyteller continued. Logan hadn't realised that he had been lost in thoughts for a while. 'But Lionheart came back and protected Albion's people. A year later, Reaver appeared and everyone began to believe that Lionheart and Reaver were starting to fall in love for they were always together. For nearly three years they were together, but then Lionheart disappeared and was never seen again,' the storyteller finished mysteriously.
The people of Albion began to clap and Amy got up and thanked the storyteller for his marvellous tale. She still looked highly amused.
'Mummy, what's so funny?' Logan finally asked, going over and climbing into her lap.
'Yes, your majesty. I saw that you were trying not to laugh during my story.' The storyteller said. He sounded as though he was a little hurt.
'I meant no disrespect, dear storyteller, but I noticed a few parts were slightly exaggerated.' Amy replied, smiling gently.
'But how do you know that, Queen Amy?' asked a young girl with short, curly, blonde hair. 'Did you know Lionheart?'
'One could say that,' said Amy mysteriously.
'Do you know what happened to her, my Queen?' asked a man named Alex urgently. He was the man from the story whose ex-lover asked Lionheart to make him fall in love with her before dumping him painfully.
'Yes,' replied Amy. She was looking at Alex sadly along with some other emotion that Logan did not recognise. 'Her heart was stolen by a thief.'
'So - she is dead then?' Logan asked sadly.
'I never said that, dear one. She's very much alive.'
'But, how can she still be living without her heart?' Logan was very confused.
'Oh, my Logan. I did not mean it literally.' Amy laughed lightly.
'L-literally?' Logan questioned. He hoped one day he would be old enough to use big words too. Until then, he sometimes wished that his parents would use small words.
'What I meant to say was her heart wasn't actually cut out of her chest.'
'Then how did the thief steal her heart?'
'What your mother meant was that the Hero fell in love with the thief.' explained River.
'Oh.'
'Yes,' Amy told them. 'The first time they met, the thief wanted her but she did not like him.'
'If she did not like him, how did she end up loving him?'
'She ended up seeing a side that he had always kept extremely hidden.' Amy explained. 'And it was because of this, that she began to fall for him and after two years, he had stolen her heart, like he had done with many others. Only this time, the thief had fallen deeply in love with her, but he never let anyone know for he was afraid it would destroy his respected, yet feared, imagine on society. Only his beloved Lionheart knew how much he loved her, and he took every opportunity he had to show her.'
'Just like you and Daddy?' Logan asked.
'Yes, just like us. Exactly like us.' agreed River, and Logan was sure that his father was smiling mischievously from underneath the hood. 'As of now, they are happily married with a gorgeous little boy.'
'At least she is happy,' muttered Alex. He missed his friend so much. His wife Jenifer gently put her hand on his shoulder.
Amy was about to tell him something when she suddenly stopped and seemed to be listening to something. River was the same. Both of them were tense, and River slowly stood up drawing his Dragonstomper .48. Logan was surprised that his father was still alive and still had his gun. Walter, a soldier and trusted friend of his parents told him how Reaver shot down everyone that had one.
'Mummy? Daddy? What's wrong?' Logan asked nervously.
They didn't answer.
'Your majesties?' asked Walter, hand gripped tightly on his sword handle.
Yet again, they did not answer.
Instead, Amy stood up, putting Logan gently on the throne, before walking over to River and whispering something very quietly to him that no one could hear. River was about to reply when Logan yelled out to him as something black and cold picked him up. River and Amy both whipped around and saw that a shadow had a tight grip on their most beloved treasure.
'Let his go, Shadow!' ordered River, raising his gun threateningly. It was known throughout the kingdom that King River was an excellent marksman, nearly as good as Reaver, if not equal.
'You are not in a position to give orders, King River,' the Shadow said coldly.
'What do you want?' Amy asked coldly.
Logan had never heard such coldness in his mother's voice, nor had anyone else in the kingdom, if their faces were anything to go by. But even though his mother looked frightening, he wanted nothing more to run to her and be held tightly in her warm and loving embrace.
'I am here on behalf of the Shadow Court,' hissed the Shadow. River tensed; something many people noticed. 'You see, they aren't happy with you, River. They feel cheated.'
'And why do they feel that way?' asked a hesitant River.
'Your youth,' it answered with a hiss. 'You went to them around five hundred years ago and asked them to keep you young, which they did so willingly for you kept to the contract. But then you fell in love and broke it. They were sad to know they weren't going to be receiving any more sacrifices, but they were happy to know that they would be receiving your youth instead. However, you cheated them. You found a way to stay young without them.' The Shadow's hisses were much colder now. 'So now you must pay and what better way to punish you than with one of your most precious treasures.' The Shadow was slowly disappearing with the terrified Logan. 'And killing your other.' It added before disappearing with Logan.
'LOGAN! NO!' screamed Amy, before she was knocked off the platform by another Shadow. Alex caught her before she hit the ground.
'Thank you, Alex.' Amy said as he put her down.
'My pleasure, your majesty.' Alex said frowning slightly. This was the first time he had ever seen her up close, and there was something very familiar about her. However, he did not have any time to ponder it for his family and the queen were being surrounded by Shadows. However, they were only thirsty for the queen's pure and un-corrupted blood, though they were not going to get it. Amy was angry and she was going to get her son back no matter what the cost, and the first step to finding Logan was to defeat the shadows.
Everyone, except River, looked on in shock as faint blue lines began to glow under the queen's thick make-up before a ring of fire shoot out and away from her killing all the Shadows surrounding her, but not harming the innocent bystanders. It was then that everyone saw the queen in a different light. It was then that they saw that the Hero Lionheart had never abandoned them. It was then that they saw that the Hero Lionheart was in fact their queen.
A/N: Okay, the Heroes won't age normally like other people due to them having Hero blood. Their aging process is much slower when they become an adult. That is why they are able to look young.
Next Chapter:Written: 2 October 2011