Scott Major

Age- 16

Best Friend- Katherine Elizabeth

Job- Learning how to look after his kingdom and attend meetings with other kingdoms

 Scott was lying on his bed, staring out his window. Scott had cyan hair, icy blue eyes, pale skin, elf ears, and huge owl wings that he can summon and hide when he wants. He was wearing royal Rivendell armor even though he wasn't doing anything special today.

Scott was thinking about when he and Katherine first met. Why did my parents not want me outside? Scott thought. Oh, that's right. Xornoth left when I was four. But what does that have to do with it? What happened the day he left. I just remember hearing shouting, him hugging me and giving me a ring, and leaving. A trail of fire that was left everywhere he stepped. Scott sat up. The thought of his brother was bothering him.

Scott walked outside his room and went on a search for Lumi, his houseworker.

"Lumi! Lumi!" Scott shouted across the palace.

Scott almost ran straight into Lumi when he turned the corner.

"Ah!" Scott stumbled backwards.

Lumi caught him before he hit the ground. "You called, sir?"

Scott stood up, "I told you; you don't need to call me sir."

Lumi bowed, "My apologizes, Scott."

"What's up with you today? You're acting different."

"You don't remember? Your father has a meeting with Emperor Wren of the Lost Empire."

"Why?"

"They're making a trade and your father is hoping it to go peaceful, but we haven't been peaceful with their empire since Xornoth ran away and ended up dating Joey."

Scott looked to the ground.

Lumi started to walk away.

"Wait! Do you know why Xornoth left?"

Lumi stopped in her tracks and took a deep breath. "I... do remember when your brother left. Xornoth was a fine fellow, but he seemed different. I noticed and asked him about it. He said that something was calling him, and he wanted to leave to find it. I told him to follow his heart, and then he left later that night. Saying that he was going to find the voice. Your parents tried to stop him, but he shouted at them, saying that he was going to find his purpose in life. And then he ran off into the darkness."

"Oh..." Scott trailed off.

"Why do you ask?" Lumi asked.

"Just wondering..."

Lumi gave Scott a confused look but then said, "Do you need anything else sir?"

"Stop calling me sir! It feels weird!"

Lumi and Scott started laughing but then fell into silence.

"Okay, well... I'm going to Katherine's. Tell mum and dad for me, bye!"

"Have fun!" Lumi called after Scott.

Scott ran out and started flying for Katherine's.

He landed and saw Katherine talking to a boy he has never seen before. The boy had a cod head on, so Scott assumed the boy was the Cod Father. The Prince of the Cod Empire.

"Hey Scott!" Katherine said, waving at Scott.

Scott waved back and walked over to them.

"Jimmy, Scott. Scott, Jimmy." Katherine introduced them to each other.

Jimmy and Scott shook hands and for some reason, Scott felt the heat rise to his face.

It's probably since it's really warm out. Scott thought.

"Do you mind if we move inside, Katherine? I'm getting really warm." Jimmy said.

Scott blushed; hearing Jimmy's voice was like hearing a healing song.

"Sure! Let's head into the palace. Oh, and Scott, did you need something?"

"I just wanted to talk with you, but I can come back later." Scott said.

"No, it's okay! You can stay!" Katherine said, leading Scott and Jimmy inside her room.

"Erica, do you mind getting us three cups of ice lemonade?"

"Of course, mistress." Erica said.

A bit after Erica left, Katherine stood up and went to use the restroom, leaving Jimmy and Scott alone.

Scott was fidgeting with the ring that Xornoth had gave him before he left, not daring to look at Jimmy.

"Ugh, it's so warm." Jimmy said, then he took off his cod head.

Scott felt his heart skip a beat. Jimmy was beautiful. He had golden-brown hair that was all rustled and messy from wearing a hat all day. He had hazel-brown eyes that shined gold in the sunlight peeking through the window.

Jimmy and Scott stared at each other, neither of them spoke, but Scott liked it that way.

Katherine walked in and caught them staring at each other. "Did I miss something?"

Scott and Jimmy immediately broke eye contact, blushing.

"Thanks Erica!"

Katherine then said, taking the tray from Erica.

"Here you go guys," Katherine said, handing them each a glass, "Jimmy! You actually took your cod head off."

"What, is it bad?"

"No! It's just... different. Scott, what do you think of it?"

Scott jumped. He didn't want to say that he thought Jimmy was handsome, but he didn't want to say Jimmy was ugly.

"I mean, I think he looks good without it." Scott said. Jimmy blushed and then said, "Welp! Thanks for the lemonade, Katherine, but I should be on my way. Bye Scott. It was nice to meet you."

He got up, grabbed his cod head, and left. Scott watched Jimmy leave; he watched every step Jimmy took. Scott was so caught up in Jimmy that he didn't even hear Katherine shouting at him until she pulled his hair.

"OW! Jesus, what was that for?!" Scott shouted.

"Oh, so now it's MY fault when you don't answer me. What are you looking at anyway, an animal?"

Scott quickly looked away, in hopes that she wouldn't see where he was looking.

"Oooo! Someone's got a crush on Jimmy!"

"Shut up!"

"Come on, Scott. You know I love you."

Scott smiled, "I love you too."

Scott and Katherine both knew that when they said that they loved each other, it was in a platonic way. Part of the reason why they said that was because of their parents, but the other part was for them to know that they care about each other.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I was just going to talk to you about my brother."

"You have a brother?! How come you've never told me!"

"Well, my family didn't talk about it much, and I thought that they didn't want anyone to know, but I'm taking my chances."

Katherine nodded while Scott fidgeted with his ring again.

"So, Xornoth left my family when I was four and he hasn't returned. According to Lumi, he and my parents argued about him leaving, but then he ran off, saying that he was going to find a voice."

"What was the voice?"

"I'm not sure. Xornoth also gave me a ring before he left. He told me that he has one that's cyan and I have one that's purple."

"There might be books about you and Xornoth. Like how there are folktales about Aeor, there might be one about you and your brother."

"Would you mind helping me check?"

"Course not! Come on, let's go!"

Scott and Katherine then flew to Scott's library, but they found no book about Xornoth. Scott was then walking around with Katherine, a little bit outside of his kingdom when he found some mossy cobblestone. Confused, he mined it. He then found a huge cave. The cave was full of moss, corruption, and gold.

He and Katherine explored the cave and found a book. Scott stepped precociously towards it and started reading out loud.

"The Clash of the Great Stags.

Millennia ago, the ancient races of this world lived in peace, that was until the corruption spread, taking over the kingdoms it infected and wiping out entire civilizations, leaving nothing but ruin and destruction in its wake. Until the great gods of the lands came together to banish the corruption, thus ending the darkness and saving the people who followed them. By doing so they expended almost all of their power, forcing them to fall into deep slumber. All except two. Aeor and Xore, the great stags. For years they ruled together keeping peace and harmony, but Xore grew jealous of his brother's notoriety, as more people started to follow in his ways, the more jealous Xore became. As the two grew apart, their followers did too. Tearing apart communities that once lived together. Aeor and his followers believed in peace, equality, and preserving life, while Xore believed that not all were equal and shouldn't as such. His followers often held horrible sacrifices of the weaker people in their kingdoms before eventually being driven out by the followers of Aeor. Banished from their lands, Xore and his followers set off into the world, conquering towns and cities. Burdened by the actions of his brother, Aeor set off to put a stop to the terror Xore was causing. Gathering almost all of the strength he had left, he engaged in an intense battle with Xore, fighting raged for days between the two gods, seriously injuring both. After a grueling battle, Aeor eventually overpowered Xore, and using the last of his power, imprisoned him, and his followers deep within the mountain, never to hurt anyone again. Or so Aeor thought. Many years later, and the gods of old were nothing more than stories parents told their kids at night, like most things, time forgets. A couple of elves played in the outskirts of their kingdom, before they stumbled across some old statues and ruins deep in the caves. Eleanor remembered the stories their father told them of the past about the evil stag spirit Xore, and how he was banished deep into the mountains by the mighty Aeor and tried to convince his brother, Conall, to leave, but Conall being the more rebellious sibling, refused to listen and dove deeper into the caves. A great power seemed to be drawing him in with a voice offering him great power and wealth if he helped free him.

Years passed and Conall frequently visited the ruins, much of the protest of Eleanor. As time went on, the two brothers drifted apart. Conall became more violent, reclusive, and resentful, spending weeks deep in the caves. Eleanor eventually joined the high council of his kingdom. The townsfolk no longer felt safe with Conall and his actions banishing from his lands. As the years passed, stories of a demon-possessed being that matched Conall's description flooded the city, people began going missing at an alarming rate. Eventually, through much sorrow, Eleanor knew what he must do, and set out one night to find his brother and stop him once and for all. After making his way down the caves, he found his brother surrounded by the remains of the missing people and strange symbols on the walls and the floor. Eleanor could no longer see his brother, but just the monster than he had become. Large demonic horns grew from his skull, dripping in corrupted energy, seeing how his brother had been corrupted, Eleanor called out to the mighty Aeor to seek help in banishing the corrupted version of his brother. Battle once again broke out between two brothers, this time, both champions of the great stags. After hours, Eleanor with the power of Aeor, once again defeated his brother. Knowing he couldn't just banish him underground again, Aeor channeled his power through Eleanor, and together they opened a portal to another land, forcing Conall and Xore into the unknown. Never to be seen again. As sinus began to overwhelm Eleanor and offering some comfort, Aeor used the remains to wipe the memories of everyone in the land. No one would remember the evil caused by his brother Xore or by his champion Conall. Life continued and Eleanor set out to explore the world and meet new people and places. Upon reaching the end of his life, his soul now bonded with the great stag spirit of Aeor, would pass onto a new host. The prophecy says that when the world needs them, Eleanor's new being would be reminded of his past life and set forth to stop the corruption, plunging the world into an eternal winter of Xore and his newest champion were not defeated."

"What."

Scott stepped back from the book.

"That's... a lot."

"Scott, what are those?" Katherine asked, pointing across the room.

Scott looked over there and saw gold deer horns. He picked them up and placed them on his head. There was a bright shine of gold light, and then the horns were attached to his head.

"I can't-ugh- take them off." Scott said, trying to tug the horns off.

"What do you mean you can't take them off?" Katherine asked, sounding more worried than Scott.

"I just can't-"

"Princess Katherine! Prince Scott!" They heard someone yell from outside the cave.

"Come on! Before they find it!" Scott said, grabbing Katherine's hand and pulling her out of the cave. Somehow, the gold horns on Scott's head disappeared. Luckily, they made it out before the guard could see where they came from.

"Katherine, your mother has requested me to bring you back to the palace. Scott, your mother has requested you to go back home." The guard said, bowing.

"Much thanks, Steven." Katherine said to the guard. Then Katherine walked over to Scott, kissed him on the cheek and left.

"Bye Scott. Love you."

"Bye Katherine."

Then they left. But Scott couldn't sleep that well that night. Does that mean I was Eleanor in a past life? But I've lived in Rivendell for years, centuries, and I've never known about this place. The book said something about how I would be reminded of my past so then I could get rid of corruption. But I haven't seen much corruption and if I have, it wasn't that much... so is the dragon holding him back? The dragon is stronger than him, but if we kill the dragon, then Xornoth will be at full power and...

Scott paused. "This is a lot to take in."

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