Chapter Text
Distant stars twinkled in the sky above Miranda’s home away from home, the place she resided while she studied in the Monster Realm. Tonight, neither of the usual two guards stood at the front steps of the house. There was a princess missing as well; only Adrien remained.
“I ask you to simply wait and be patient for her return,” Adrien said into Miranda’s cellphone, held in one hand that he’d freed from its gauntlet. The gauntlet lay discarded beside him on the kitchen counter. “She would not have left from her studies in the Monster Realm if it weren’t of utmost importance to the Merkingdom.”
“Fine…” Amira sighed on the other end of the call. “Thanks for nothing.”
Adrien squinted. He’d had his fill of this fire djinn and then some. “With pleasure,” he said before the two fell into silence. He furrowed his brow and pulled back the device to see the main list of contacts was now present instead of the usual call screen. He held the phone speaker in front of his mouth. “Hello?” Adrien raised an eyebrow as he twisted the phone around in front of him, as if he’d find an answer scrawled on the back of the case. He huffed and set the phone on the counter, then grabbed his removed gauntlet. “I’ve never dealt with such issues with pen and paper,” he muttered to himself.
Nobody was around to appreciate Adrien’s remark, as any Merkingdom natives that had accompanied Princess Miranda to the Monster Realm made a swift return to their home, Adrien included. Eleven days prior, he’d received a phone call from Princess Miranda, though he was unable to understand most of what she was saying through her panicked sobs. However, he made one word out clearly: Z’Gord. As soon as he heard the name, Adrien rushed outside (accidentally knocking shoulders with one of the other two knights, which he made sure to apologize for afterward) and nearly yelled at Miranda’s teal-colored chauffeur to get her away from Spooky Academy as fast as he could. He typically thought well on his feet, but as soon as he saw the car speeding away, he regretted not having climbed in first to accompany him.
Thankfully, the Princess arrived home safely and without issue, though with the way she was acting she could have narrowly escaped death. Adrien pieced together from her fragmented cries that she had never even seen Z’Gord, but they couldn’t take any risks. Adrien gathered a few beloved items upon Miranda’s request, and the five Merpeople were gone in a flash.
Within a week of their return to the kingdom, Adrien received orders to go back alone. He initially found the order with unexpressed shock, but he eventually agreed that it was the safest plan of action. Not that he had a choice either way. He suspected he was going to have to get used to going on solo suicide missions for the sake of the Merkingdom.
His orders from Princess Bellanda, the commander in chief of the entire Merkingdom royal army, were very cut and dry. Enter the Monster Realm to see what the damage was. If it seemed that the Coven had stopped Z’Gord from ravaging the realm, visit Miranda’s residence to retrieve a few extra items. Then return to the Merkingdom and await further instruction.
Miranda protested (or perhaps more accurately, whined at) Bellanda’s orders, wishing instead for Adrien to remain safe in the Merkingdom. Bellanda simply dismissed her concerns and explained that these were the dangers that he signed up for. Adrien remained silent.
Upon his arrival, the Monster Realm appeared completely untouched. Granted, he wasn’t to approach the scene of where Z’Gord was spotted, Spooky Academy, but a being so powerful was capable of destroying planets in the blink of an eye. The fact that there was even a realm to return to at all came as a surprise. He thanked the Coven, who was likely the latest savior of the realm. They truly were an important ally to the Merkingdom. Not that he ever doubted such a thing, but Adrien had never seen them in person, let alone in action.
Now he had a dozen or so of Miranda’s things gathered in a box. Things that Miranda supposedly cherished, but not quite enough to have rescued from Z’Gord initially. He set the box by the front door, then retreated to the living room to rest on a plush footstool. He removed his other gauntlet and set them aside before wiping his sweat-slicked hands up and down his maroon face.
He took in a deep breath through his mouth (which was the only available path it could take to reach his lungs) and let it seep out slowly between his lips. What was hitting him rather randomly now was just how thirsty he was. And tired. But not the kind of tiredness that actually lets you fall asleep with ease. He lifted his glowing-yellow gaze to a sword hanging horizontally above the fireplace. It showed off a golden handle adorned with etches of waves, with a silver blade glimmering in the light of the moon shining into the room. The entire sword emanated an otherworldly red that shined clearly without quite glowing.
Adrien was only twenty-two years old, yet he was one of Princess Bellanda’s highest ranking knights in the entire royal army. Both a result of his own combat acumen and tactical intelligence, and the fact that Princess Miranda took a very fast liking to him. Adrien wasn’t exactly sure why; he didn’t consider himself very bubbly or even all that sociable anymore, but Miranda enjoyed something about him enough to often want him in her presence. He was assigned as her primary personal guard at only twenty years old, only two years after he had become a knight. Though his duties were quickly spiraling into territories he wasn’t sure he could handle.
He hadn’t been ordered to yet, but he knew he was going to be the one to lead the attack to slay Z’Gord.
He likely wouldn’t make it out alive, even if he succeeded. Killing any of these beasts without any casualties was an impossible task, as he had come to learn in the past. He just had to take solace in the fact that he had a weapon made to kill them. He re-equipped his gauntlets and stood up straight, then stepped forward to the mantle of the fireplace. He reached up to grab the sword from its place on the wall, and examined the handle. It was decorated with what looked like a ruby of considerable size, though he knew that wasn’t what it really was. Inside, something swirled angrily.
Adrien turned away from the fireplace and sheathed the sword at his side.