Poem
As I stand upon the steps of the Tower, I pause, unsure and slightly afraid of the task I am about to do.
I look back, at my faithful luckdragon, my face a mask of doubt for I am about to come face-to-face with someone I have never known and I do not know what to do or say.
I stand there for what seems like an endless moment, weighing my opinions.
Do I go and finish what I have come to do?
Or do I turn and simply walk away?
Falkor's eyes shine like dark rubies and he smiles knowingly
Looking at his calm face I know my answer.
Tuning my battle-weary body around, I slowly mount the large, circular steps that will lead me to my fate, whatever that may be.
As I pass through doors of the purest ivory, I tell myself that I am ready for anything that is in my path.
Anything at all.
The doors close behind me as I pass through.
I feel as if I have entered a place that is more enchanted then any in Fantasia.
My eyes are wide with not only disbelief but awe as well.
My mouth is slightly agape and my face is pale.
As for my heart, it feels as if it has nearly stopped.
Am I dreaming or is all this real?... .
For there directly in front of me, sitting upon a bed of ivory and silk, is a creature that is more beautiful then any I have known or heard of.
My thoughts are awhirl.
My body is nearly numb.
Am I awake or not?
For this is no empress
This is someone who could be half-nymph, half-fairy.
Someone one would find sitting upon a mushroom in a secluded forest glade.
Or dancing upon the waves of the sea.
Her eyes - the color of the dark blueness of the night - are like undisturbed, untroubled, jewels.
Yet they manage to go right through my heart to touch my very soul.
Hair that resembled chestnuts kissed ever so lightly with the slightest traces of gold.
As our eyes meet and hold, I can sense that although she is as frail as glass, her delicate body is still held perfectly straight and unafraid.
It is at this moment I see this nymph-fairylike creature not as a porcelain doll that shatters in a thousand pieces if knocked over.
But as a strong, courageous ruler, one who is able to withstand the odds no matter what.
When I saw her smile for the first time.
It was as if the heavens themselves opened up
The hope that reflected in those beautiful eyes of hers shone with a light full of more warmth then the sun.
That warmth filled my lonely heart with so much joy, so much faith, I cannot even begin to explain.
It was then, that I knew that I couldn't shatter this fairy's ray of hope.
I realized that from this moment on, I never wanted a day to go by where there would be no smile of true hope instituted upon her lovely face.
Now, after all is well once again and as I lie here in my bed in one of the guest rooms of the Tower, something comes clear to me.
I love her.
That is the reason I had fought so hard to save her.
It was the unknowing love embedded deep into my heart, my soul, that gave me the strength and the courage to fight the Nothing and Gmork.
For it is from the very moment - if not before - that I laid my gaze on her, that I became her champion
The protector of her world and now, her heart.
Her knight in shining armor is what I am.
I now privately live to serve her - Moonchild - and her alone.
To somehow protect her from any and all harm if need be.
I will in my own way continue to fight all evil that threatens her and our world.
Even if I never - God forbid - see her again I will find a way to protect her, console her, and be there for her.
If she is in the worst of danger I will gladly die for her.
For from this day forward, I cannot bear waking up and not seeing her beautiful face in my mind's eye.
It is because I love her that I fight from my heart and nowhere else.
If it comes down to me living a life without her somehow in it - even if I only visit her.
I will live no life at all.
For she is the other half of my soul.
Without her being in my life in some way both my heart and soul are empty.
She fills the dull ache in my heart that has been there since the death of my parents.
Because of her, I no longer feel that empty void within me.
I swear to the heavens above, I will do everything in my power to make her proud,.
To show her court - and all of Fantasia if the case may be - that I am worthy of her hand, which one day I will ask for.
I will show them all that I, Atreyu - despite the fact that I am a 'mere commoner' - am better then all the noblemen in Fantasia.
I swear upon Auryn itself, that I will protect Fantasia forevermore.
I will honor her.
Serve her, until the day I die.
To my beautiful empress, I give my word.
My life.
My soul.
My love.
--Atreyu
