Two days pass and Erica, William, Alice and Jericho have all made it to the Holy Kingdom of Righteous and was immediately summoned by their king, as they made their way into the castle, Jericho was stopped by a guard that didn't recognize him, viewing him as suspicious, until Erica intervene using her authority as the princess and commander, it was then settled and Jericho was allowed entire into the castle, upon getting into the castle, they then made their way to the audience room where the king of Righteous awaits, just outside the door into the audience room Erica asked Jericho to wait awhile outside as they meet the king and they will inform him when to make his way in, Jericho agreed and the others made their way into the room to meet the king… the room was big, with a very beautiful chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, the room was also dawn in the color white from top to bottom, with a golden carpet rolled down the middle of the room, with three golden thrones placed just in front of the room where the king, queen and princess would take when the room is in use, and right now it is in use and the king, queen, young prince, and the king's council were all present to welcome and hear from the commander of the holy knights, and also the princess and heir of the throne.
Erica, Alice and William stepped forward and bow before their king, whom acknowledged them then they raised their heads with the kings permission, the prince made eye contact with Alice, throwing her a wink with a smile, she uncomfortably moved her gaze with a sour expressing… "Erica, am glad to see you are well, William and Alice too… but am not seeing the extra bodies you hired, am guessing something really went wrong in the forest of dawn?" said the king, with his voice filling the room… "yes your highness, the report about the activities in the great forest of dawn was accurate but it was wrong about the numbers, we were completely overwhelmed and we lost all the mercenaries we hired, we are very luck to make it out and be able to stand before you today" Erica replied with a sad tone… "hmm, I see… well it's a heavy lost but, I commend your decision to not take along the holy knights of the kingdom" ..… "thank you father, but we still lost potential future allies for the war against Jace… father…" ..… "I know Erica, but remember these were mercenaries, they don't have a side, they are only loyal to the highest payout, Jace would have easily bought them, they would have easily betrayed us… so cease your worrying, you did the right thing" .…. "thank you… father" she smiles, while the prince rolled his eyes and was about to leave, but he was held back by his mother to his dismay… "now Erica, can you please go into more details on what transpired at the great forest of dawn?" the king asked getting back on topic, Erica then went about explaining their experience at the forest upon their arrival, what they saw, how they were all overwhelmed by the numbers of the Lost, how the mercenaries met their end and how she, Alice and William were all saved by someone at the very last second… "so eventful, I can't believe you were exposed to such dangers, if I knew it would be that bad I would have never even fathomed sending you there, it remains a very bad decision on my part" ..… "oh no father if I didn't go it would have looked bad on the royal household, apart from being the princess of this great nation, I am also the commander of the distinguished holy knights, I have to always set a good example for my people father" Erica replied with pride in her voice… "well said commander …. so where is this hero you spoke of that saved you all" the priest asked with curiosity… "he is waiting just outside…. oh, and… umm… before we summon him in I really want you to prepare yourselves, it will be really jolting" Erica replied trying to ease her parents and council into the shock they are about to receive… "oh stop the tomfoolery Erica and get this over with, I have places to be" said the prince in a very annoyed tone… "jeez I see you are as happy as ever dear brother" said Erica in a teasing tone… "oh don't patronize me 'favorite child' just get this over with and let me get out of here" replied Tazz in a very sour and annoyed tone… "control yourself Tazz (Tazz rolled his eyes and crossed his arm) okay Erica please, proceed" the king requested, Erica nodded in response and asked the guard to let in the person standing outside, the door swing opened and someone was seen making his way towards the king, as he passed, the members of the king's council that recognized him were all left speechless, some of them cower in fear of the though of seeing a ghost, as he came into view the king himself immediately recognized him and was frozen with shock… "in case you are not aware let me introduce you… this man right here is Jericho Von Menssai, the prince of the Dynasty of Menssai, and our savior whom we all though was dead three and a half years ago…. Jericho you are in the presences of our great king his majesty king Gustavious Zander Von Righteous, and her majesty queen Rachel Von Righteous and of cause the young prince Tazz Von Righteous…. (laughs)… I did warn you to prepare yourselves (laughs again)… uhh, this will never get old"… said Erica with a laugh… "aren't you enjoying this a bit too much commander? (sigh)… you are truly evil" said William with an exasperated tone... "she is truly a huge hand full" Alice added with a sigh… "come on people, this has to be funny, how is this not funny to you, look at their faces… jeez" Erica responded while pouting… "it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance your highness, am sorry for my attire, it was out of my control with the situation I stumbled upon at the forest…. as the holy knight commander stated, I am indeed Jericho Von Menssai the lost prince of the Dynasty of Menssai" said Jericho with a bow… "this.. this is absolutely impossible… we had a funeral in your honor… we have witnesses that saw you die, we saw your body… how is this possible" stated some of the court members of the king with a panic tone, loud murmurs started filling the room, with some that doesn't recognize him asking who he was, and others still in disbelieve and physically afraid still thinking it's a ghost… with his authority, the king called for order and the room was filled with silence again… "Jericho… is that truly you?" asked the king with an intense stare in the direction of Jericho… "yes your highness, it is I" Jericho responded with confidence in his tone, upon seeing this the king sighed and rested on his throne... "dear Jericho… what happened, how are you alive right now?" asked the queen with a curious tone in her voice, Jericho went on to explain everything he told Erica, William and Alice back at the forest, including the part of the ability he has, that part of the information they were receiving brought back the panic they felt the first time they saw him, with half of the council wanting his arrest cause his brother Jace with the same strange abilities became a tyrant, and with what happened with him and his father, some members of the court felt Jericho would want revenge against them… but it was also strongly argued by the other half of the council that really knows who Jericho is, emphasizing on his incredible kindness and the title he got for the good heart he has (The Saint Prince of Menssai)… with all this argument going on in the room the king just sat in silence with his gaze on Jericho, and with Jericho returning the gaze and ignoring every other person around him… some seconds pass and the king finally spoke… "Jericho.. (he responded) on behalf of my kingdom and people I am truly sorry for what transpired with you three and a half years ago, that war… that war… I do not have any clue what brought it on, we are just left with a lot of losses and regrets for what we don't even remember (he placed his hands on his face) your father was the best thing to ever happen in this world, learning of his death, and him not even being involved in the war in the first place broke me… we are still suffering for that sin, the people have lose faith in us cause of that war, the nations that was destroyed, the people lives we destroyed, it's all a nightmare that won't go away for us no matter how much time passes, the alliance treaty we signed to help the world is barely holding on, cause in the eyes of the people, there is no rectifying what we did to the world three and a half years ago (sigh) and now Jace with his taste for revenge and half the world in support of him cause of their detestation of us, I see this as our day of reckoning, our punishment for what we caused three and a half years ago, (sigh) Jericho I won't blame you for wanting revenge also but please just know we truly, truly feel remorseful and we want your forgiveness, and am so glad you are alive dear Jericho, we needed at least one good news and we got it thanks to you being alive…" said the king with a calming voice and sincerity in his eyes, the council fell really silence as their king spoke, and the gloom around the room can be felt… "you can't be serious father… his brother got the same abilities and he sort for revenge, what makes you think this fallen prince won't do the same?… talking about how good his heart is, it's been three and a half years for crying out loud, alone with his thoughts and feelings, it tends to change people… and besides why is it just him and his brother getting this strange gifts uh, what are they doing in that kingdom of his, and how did he survive getting stabbed by a sword more than four times and still be standing before us right now… you are not asking the right questions father, you should not be apologizing, you should be filled with questions… you don't know what you just let into the kingdom… think of your people first…" said Tazz getting on his feet with anger in his voice staring deep into the eyes of Jericho…. "hold your tongue Tazz… you were too young to understand anything from back then, let along anything about Jericho and the Dynasty of Menssai, from now on you are not allowed to speak" said the king with anger and authority, upon hearing this Tazz rolled his hands into a fist then glanced all over the room at the faces present and then he stormed off, the queen tried to stop him but the king stopped her, a couple of people followed him out… "sigh… please forgive my son's tongue" the king stated… "it's fine your highness, I mean, he did have a point, with the tragic demise of my father three and a half years ago, it would be wise to use this as an opportunity, pretending to be fine to get close enough to have my revenge, and also with Jace being my only family left, it will be deranged to think or expect me to fight against him (hearing this some council members let out a light sweat and took some steps back) you all will be right to think that… but what my brother has become, the trouble he has cause would never be what my father would have wanted, it absolutely not what I want too… none of us, not I or my father wanted this, we would never want this life for Jace too, and so your highness, am not here for something as petty as revenge, the war back then, it couldn't be helped (thinking of Pluto as the cause) right now am here to bring hope to the world, I was given a second chance and blessed with this gifts, I most definitely will not be using it to bring more chaos to the world than it already has, I want to stop my brother no matter what I have to do… now I leave it to your discretion if you want to trust me or not, your highness" said Jericho with truth and conviction in his voice, Erica couldn't stop smiling after she heard what Jericho said, William kept nodding to himself in approval and Alice had more love in her eyes than she did before, some tiny conversation started up again, some sounding skeptical and unsure, seeing this Jericho had the strong push In his chest, he knew if he wanted to get the best chance of saving them he had to tell them the truth so they can trust him… "may I add something else your highness" Jericho asked… the king nodded in response of Jericho's request… "may I ask for it to be in private… for what am about to say isn't ready to be public knowledge just yet, it's for your ears only" Jericho requested.
Outside the audience room, walking away, Tazz was fuming at how he was humiliated by his father, and to him, the stupid decision his father is making trusting Jericho… "I can not believe my father can be that atrociously gullible, and treating me like that in front of everyone when I was only looking after the kingdom's best interest… how utterly aggravating" Prince Tazz exclaimed fuming… "so true your majesty, you would be a better ruler for our nation than the current king, or the princess will ever be" one of the prince's personal aid responded… "I just hope you take over before our nation completely get run to the ground" another aid of the prince responded… "oh this isn't over, I won't take a back sit and watch, my nation… my home… get destroyed, cause my father is a huge coward (smile)… I will run him our first before he buries our nation, no matter what it takes, I will protect my nation, and destroy whoever tries to stand against me… even if it's my father, mother or sister, I will crush them all for my nation… and that fallen prince, whoever he really is, will be where I start from" prince Tazz expresses a twisted desire to take over the kingdom at all cost, with both his aids smiling in support of his new found goal.