Welcome to Gaia! ::

A lot changed when Remi was sixteen. One moment he was enjoying an afternoon riding the waves on the private beach outside of the Stilicidium palace, taking in the sunshine and salty air he came to know and love. The next he was down in the sand with his heart pounding in his ears watching as the world became blurry. The last thing he remembered from that day were heavy boots coming to his line of sight, then darkness. When he woke up, he was in his own bed. Weeks had passed. His parents were the ones to break the news to him about everything that happened. Alosa was safe but when he asked about Calypso their faces said it all. It was such a shock to his system that he didn’t even remember them saying he was going to be king. The ‘turtle’ in his life was gone and he could never pester her for advice or be gently chided by her when he did something ‘unbecoming.’ All he could do was hold onto Alosa, his “dolphin,” when he saw her again. He couldn’t be there for her when she found Calypso, and he swore he’d never let her be left alone like that again. It was hard to see her as a hollow shell of herself, but he knew he wasn’t in any better condition. The comments that circulated within earshot earned their messengers knowing glares from the otherwise good-humored prince.

A second brush with death came shortly after while he was bathing. A chance look at the surface of water pulled him into a trance where he had visions that triggered his senses and filled him with emotions that weren’t his own. The intensity of it caused him to black out and slip under the water. Some of the images were frightening while others were unusual, and when he described what he saw the doctors determined he was suffering from exhaustion and ordered him to rest. Word got out about his delusions and people from court were questioning if he was mentally well enough for the job as their King. For a month this continued though not as intensely as the first time, and he genuinely started to believe he was losing it until he started to witness things from his visions happening before his eyes. It wasn’t until after a gift box with a dress arrived for Alosa that he and everyone else realized what he was experiencing. Remi didn’t help the rumors when he tried to take the box while screaming it was laced with poison and he was escorted back to his room to rest. The dress never made it to Alosa and was instead found on a noblewoman whose body was ravaged by the tell-tale rash that accompanied a known deadly toxin. Scholars confirmed after speaking with Remi and everyone else that he could perform hydromancy, the ability to receive messages about the future when in contact with water. He was vindicated; Remi may have acted like a loon from time to time but he wasn’t as certifiably insane as everyone made him out to be! Seeing a potential advantage, he tried to utilize Remi’s new ability but stopped when he realized his son couldn’t just conjure up visions about specific enemy countries on a whim.

Once enough time passed to mourn and heal, a lot of Remi’s time, when he wasn’t out of commission from regular migraines, went into being instructed on becoming a leader in addition to his academics. He went in with a focus he didn’t usually have; the empty shoes his sister left were big and it was for both of his sisters that he took on his new role. He did his best and that was good most times, but he was still a teenager with high energy and a want for some fun even if it meant a little trouble along the way. He kept to the times promised to Alosa and picked back up with surfing. Other times he slipped out of the palace to attend parties, nightlife events, or even some of the more grimier dive bars and rum houses, despite his father’s orders to keep a guard and keep to curfew at all times. While he agreed that there was a need for increased security after what happened, Remi butted heads with him over it as well as with his other restrictive policies.

The fear of being poisoned, being killed like Calypso, or being attacked like Alosa did when she was with her then-Hyoden fiancee, left him feeling inadequate in his own ability to protect himself. His father refused to let him learn, Remi took matters into his own hands. The king had a sudden change of heart when word got back to him that Remi was going onto the navy yards and learning from any soldier willing to teach him. A trainer by the name of Dymias was who he reported to thereafter. From the mysterious man he learned a great deal about fighting and defending oneself in the threat of danger. He was even introduced to less formal techniques where just about anything was fair game when it came to tactics and weaponry – fighting like the pirates he would occasionally see. Remi returned home sore and sometimes bruised but beaming with pride for how far he had come with such an aspiring instructor. Like all good things, his training with Dymias had to come to an end. His lessons carried on long after training ended when the nights he lurked around town took a turn.

When the war ended, the letters from Utopia came. The academy was requesting their presence. While their dad was reluctant, he wanted more for the kingdom to heal and rebuild from the devastating losses they took otherwise they’d be at a huge disadvantage if it picked up again. Remi was not home to hear the news, and instead was gallivanting abroad and at sea and could not accompany Alosa. He returned to Stilicidium but only stayed a couple of days before leaving for Utopia. He was willing to attend, but knew he would miss the comforts of home. It would be there that he would not only continue his education and training, but also look for someone worthy of becoming a queen to his Kingdom when it came time for him to rule. Remi excitedly looked forward to reuniting with Alosa. Just as he was leaving, his father dropped a quick tidbit of information: He had a half-brother that was a prince who was at Utopia with Alosa. Before Remi could get any more information the king ordered the carriage to start its journey.