Luminary

In the unnamed kingdom in the mountains, there lived two children of royalty. The sister is named Esmeralda. Due to her parents being killed under mysterious circumstances and her older brother disappearing under equally mysterious circumstances, her and her brother were the sole heirs to the kingdom. However, her brother was less interested in ruling and more into art, so she was practically an only heir.

What one may not know is being an only heir with little family is frightfully lonely. What one may also not know is that due to being gifted a magic notebook by her late father. So what did she do with this amazing notebook? She looked out her window one clear night, picked a star, bright and yellow, and used her magic to bring it to life as a human.

However, shooting stars tend to not fall where they are most needed. Quite a while away, in a town by a lake, the young man fell and stayed until a kindly man, who was fascinated by space, came upon him. The man was very curious for he had never seen a human much less anything else. The man helped him up and asked, "What is your name? I am Artimis."

The boy looked down and frowned, "I don't know."

Artimis smiled a small smile, "Then you need one, do you not?"

The name gifted to him was Zeke Polaris, Zeke for his shooting star status and Polaris for the fact he fell from the north.

The town welcomed him as a legend. Artimis taught him in many things. Sadly he failed at swordsmanship and would have cut one of his arms off if not for his mentor. However, where he lacked in brawn he was amazing in intelligence. He preferred the paintbrush to a sword and was ever curious about the world.

However, he was a legend they were not so easy in giving up. Even when a royal decree came of how the princess wanted to find a boy who came from the stars. Then they tightened his leash and wouldn't let him go. Due to this, Zeke thought they hated him and wanted him away from them. Thus, he found no hurt in staying away.

One night, as clear as Zeke's first, Artimis came to him and was saddened by Zeke's state. He told Zeke of the princess and was ecstatic by his change in mood which was curious and raring to go. Artimis chuckled at this and gave him his own mount, an oversized black cat named Andromeda who would carry him out under the cover of darkness. To Zeke's chagrin, he made him take his sword, a golden colored blade, and his shield which had star patterns on it. Artimis laughed at his annoyance and sent him off into the night.

That first night was uneventful. Zeke rode off and didn't stop until morning which was when he met a curious figure. Zeke stopped at a crossroads to catch his breath and looked up to see someone leaning on the crossroads signs, someone he could have sworn was not there before. This 'someone' seemed to be dressed in a large cloak and a tall hat, all of this hiding his features. From underneath the hat, the someone looked at him with wide blank eyes and grinned, which was startling as Zeke thought that the creature did not have a mouth to grin with. It seemed to see his nervousness and bowed before saying in a soft voice, "Hello, traveler. I can tell by those sunlight yellow eyes that you are riding to the castle...am I correct?"

Zeke nodded once. The creature twirled and waved his hand to a small path, again something Zeke thought wasn't there but the poor boy was just clueless enough to shrug it off. The creature said again, a bit louder, "The normal path is swarming with so many horrible monsters! Dragons and dire wolves and wendigoes and such! This path is a lot more safe, for not many know of it. Not to mention it's a lot more scenic and is a quicker path to the castle of the one Princess Esmeralda."

"That's her name? It's really pretty! Thank you, kind sir!" was Zeke's response and he urged Andromeda down the path, not even waiting for a response.

The creature watched him go and grinned, this one malevolent. He was not kind nor really much a sir.

The creature was right about one thing, it was scenic. The path soon opened to a meadow of flowers, mostly blue but a few others of purple and red. The scent was sweet and drifted through the air making the little blonde warrior drowsy but he shook his head to send it away. Even Andromeda was walking slowly and Zeke had to snap the reins to make sure she didn't lay down.

A soft crying seemed to grow louder as they walked. Zeke looked around and spotted a figure in the flowers so he stopped Andromeda and hopped off. He approached the figure and tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up at Zeke with pale blue eyes whose pupils were faded grey. He whimpered and shook his equally pale blue, but messy and unkempt, hair away from his eyes. Zeke tilted his head and sat down by him, "What's wrong? I'm Zeke by the way...who are you?"

The other boy whimpered softly, "I'm W-White...and I'm just sad..."

"Sad? Do you know why?"

White shook his head and pulled his knees to his chest. Zeke frowned at this and found himself growing sad as well. He tried to shake the thoughts away but doubt flooded him. What if I can't find the castle? What if I have to fight some horrible beast? What if I lose. "No!" he yelled and frowned.

White darted away and whimpered, "D-did I do...something wrong?"

Zeke sighed and shook his head, "I'm sorry. I was just thinking. Anyway...maybe I can try to cheer you up?"

White shrugged but stood. Zeke grinned happily, "Anyway...come meet Andromeda! She may look like a monster but I've found her to just be a giant kitten!"

The two sat by the cat and talked and talked until the sun was directly ahead. Zeke sighed at this, "I've lost enough time. I have to go now. Though you can follow!"

White giggled, obviously a lot happier now. "I can't! It's hard to explain but I'm a sort of test! Now you get a power and a cool tattoo to show how you've been doing!"

Before Zeke could ask, the other boy grabbed his wrist and faded away in a soft white light. Zeke stumbled back and looked around, not sure if it was real. He looked at his wrist where a ring of white orbs was tattooed. He touched one and everything went quiet. He yelled and no sound came out. He touched them again and yelled, this time his yell echoing around.

After this he rode on to the next place, where the meadow faded into a sandy area, along a river that was shaded by trees. He smiled but stopped when he saw a figure, who looked an awful lot like White but had grey eyes and pure white hair that was messy too. When seeing him, the white-haired boy slapped the rock he was sitting on and a second appeared, this one with purple eyes and hair. He jittered and darted to Zeke, "Hello friend! I want to play! Do you?"

"I can't. I've already wasted most of the day." was Zeke's response.

"What harm would it be? Pulsar has been bored and the chances of you making it to the princess are low. The chances of her actually liking you are lower.", the white haired boy replied with boredom.

"Neutron's right so please stay!" Pulsar quipped.

"No! I got to go anyway, no matter the chances!" Zeke said sharply and urged Andromeda forward.

Pulsar zipped in front of him, "Just for a little?"

Zeke shook his head and Pulsar pouted, "Neutron! He's not being nice!"

Neutron slipped off his rock and said shortly, "You're upsetting him and you seem like a nice guy so why would you do that?"

Zeke flinched back and said carefully, as he could tell this one was one of a silver tongue, "I have priorities. Though, once I make my way to the castle, I can return and maybe even bring you there."

Neutron paused then clapped his hands, "Well done. We were your second and third challenges but due to time constraints had to be put together. You seem to be more the brains type so I will warn you: the next two are battles that are mostly those of brawn but can be solved by cleverness. We will also gift you abilities: mine is of a quick and clever tongue and Pulsar's is of the ability to move very quick."

As if this was a cue, the two took his wrist and faded away in their respective colors, grey and purple. The next additions to the tattoo were grey spikes on the white orbs and purple ribbons intertwining between the orbs.

The next area was a forest with long thin trees with not a lot of leaves. It seemed quiet but at this point Zeke expected something to break the silence. As he rode, he found the the one who would, leaning on a sign post as if he had been waiting there. The one leaning looked up at him, brushing fiery red hair out of his eyes and grinning like a madman. He quipped, "Aren't you the one riding through this path onto the castle? If so, meet your next challenge who goes by the name Red!"

Zeke tilted his head but Red just went on talking while looking at him with cherry bomb red eyes, "Take a guess on what your challenge would be?" and with that waved his hand, sending a flurry of flames at Andromeda's paws.

Andromeda reared up with a howl, which sent Zeke to the ground. Zeke scrambled to his feet but Red gave him almost no time to dodge another fireball. He fumbled with his shield and used it to protect from the seemingly endless fire attacks. He whimpered until they stopped and looked over his shield. Red was rocking on his heels and said, "I'll give you a deal. Hit me once on me on my arm with the sword of yours and you beat the challenge. Deal?"

Zeke's answer was to draw his sword and give a quick charge to the redhead. It was useless for Red grabbed the blade, carefully enough to to slice himself, and held true. Zeke tried to tug it back but yelped for ,in a few seconds, the hilt was hot. Red snickered at this and dropped the sword. Zeke glared and picked it up carefully. Red was still gloating. He smiled a bit and and nicked Red on the arm before dancing back. Red stopped and looked at the small cut before snickering again, "You are clever and have beat me. Thus you get my fire powers. I have one piece of advice now: next guy, if you can call him a guy, is tricky. Don't quit and go find that hot princess!"

"How do you know she is hot?", Zeke asked as he approached him.

Red took his wrist, shrugged and answered, "I don't but isn't it the sort of thing that is expected?"

Zeke shrugged too and yelped as Red disappeared but his arm burned, only for a second. The next addition to the tattoo was twining red lines that were almost like fire.

The next area was where the forest got deeper and the day was ending, making it even darker and eerier. A weird snarling started as soon as the moon came into view which made both Andromeda and Zeke on edge. It only seemed to get louder as they went on and gain a static quality. Suddenly, a large black creature leaped into their path. It's skin seemed to be so dark it absorbed light but the stars themselves were reflected in it. It wore a long bandana with the tied parts outstretched like wings. It stared at him with pupil less glowing white eyes. It snarled again and leaped, which Andromeda dodged, managing to not throw off Zeke again.

Zeke drew his sword again, listening to the monster scream angrily and swipe at him. He swiped back with his sword and the creature howled. Zeke barked, "Stop!" partially in fear for it was about the same size as Andromeda but had a glowing mouth full of teeth.

It stopped and tilted his head. Zeke shook but said calmly, "Stop your screaming?"

It went silent and hopped up as a curious change came over it. It's body shifted and it looked more humanlike now. It tapped a white and green collar on it's neck and said in a gravelly voice, "Is this on? It is! So your challenge was to be courageous against a monster...which was me who is named Black. Anyway, your new power is invisibility! Sounds cool? It is!" and floated over to him, grabbing his wrist.

It gave Zeke no word in edgewise as, with a flash, Zeke felt like a cold wave washed over him then stopped. He looked at his arm which now had a band of black on the elbow.

It only took the rest of the night to get to the castle but once there he found a horrible thing: it had been taken by some sort of hypnotist! The guards had a hazy look in their eyes and slurred that no one was allowed in. Zeke fell back and took an inventory of his newfound powers: absolute quietness, a silver tongue, quick speed, fire throwing and invisibility. He smiled. This could be done.

No guard heard him or saw him as he snuck through the castle. This was thanks to the ability of quietness and invisibility. He finally found where the princess was but a familiar figure blocked the door. Zeke let his powers down and hid. It was the same man from the crossroads who called out to him, "So you conquered the trials! That's too bad. The princess, you see, is the only heir to this kingdom, and despite being a adept magician, an easy target to beat. I might as well give you my name if we fight. It's a simple one: Mr. Sketches."

Zeke stepped out and drew his sword and shield. Sketches grinned, the same malevolent grin from before and said softly, "I'll give you a simple deal, little knight. You win, I leave you and the princess and the kingdom alone. I win and it's all mine."

Zeke stiffened and muttered, "Fine then. I very well cannot leave her."

Sketches pulled the princess into view, who was hissing angrily at him, "I might as well show you your prize."

Zeke stepped forward then lunged, which caused Sketches to drop the princess and dodge. Zeke tried it again and Sketches simply morphed into a smaller form. Zeke frowned. Morphing abilities? This was going to make it more difficult. He glanced at the tattoos and tapped the purple twining lines. He lunged again but this time he was a blur and connected his sword to Sketches' arm. Sketches lashed out which dazed Zeke. Zeke staggered back and barely dodged a sword slash, for Sketches had summoned a sword, pure black and seeming to drip ink. He swiped again, still quick as a blink and slashed Sketches' chest. Sketches was dazed now which gave Zeke the change to switch tactics to the reliable powers of the cherry bomb Red. He lashed out, sending a wave of fire at Sketches' face. Sketches screamed angrily but this didn't stop Zeke who stayed vigilant. After half a minute of this, Zeke tapped the grey part of his tattoo, activating a silver tongue and said softly, "Look, I got you in a corner. I don't plan on stopping either. Not to mention I've only showed you two out of five of the abilities I was gifted. Does stying like this sound promising still?"

Sketches growled but paused and shook his head. Despite his cruelty, he was a coward when he was the one being beat. "Fine, you got me beat, little knight. I'd say I'll be back but that's a cliche. How about I stick around? Y'know to keep a guard of your princess and you?"

Zeke lashed out with his sword and shook his head. Sketches sighed and darted out, hopefully to not be seen again. He tapped the tattoo, deactivating all the powers, sheathed his sword and swung his shield over his back. He turned to see the princess, inches away from him. He stammered, "H-hello?"

She smiled and asked softly, "Are you my star?"

"I think? They say I fell from the sky."

She smiled more and kissed him on the cheek, "You're a very kind and brave star then. I wished we could have met on better terms. Either way, I originally summoned you for a friend. It gets very lonely here despite what one would believe. I'm Esmeralda by the way, and you can call me just that!"

"Esmeralda...alright! I'm Zeke!"

"If you want, you can stay here...if you want."

Zeke smiled happily, "I spent all that time getting here so of course!"

Despite the cliche, the two lived happily there for as long as one could remember. Zeke never got a true hang of wielding a sword however. Though, his art did put Esme's brother to shame so there is that.