CHAPTER 22: THE WHITE PRINCE

Aerith had just embarrassed himself like a fool and it still stung for a while, the boy standing on the boulder kept giggling mischievously adding more salt to his wound.

"What’s his problem really?" He groaned inwardly, giving himself a mental kick to the gut.

The boy stopped after a while much to Aerith’s relief, the boy then turned to face him and went mute all of a sudden. His crystalline eyes scanned Aerith from top to bottom very meticulously, his eyes searched for something or they seemed to be but what that was, he did not know.

"I was having a short nap when you three fell right through the doorway, from how you looked you must have had it rough with your groundskeper." His tone was surprisingly well composed and very mature, reeking of nobility in a matter of speaking.

Aerith paused and stared at the boy with bewildered eyes. "Doorway? Our groundskeeper, what’s that supposed to mean?"

The boy’s lips curled as if mocking him, "What you fell out of is called a doorway and the entrances are called doors. Back home my people had texts about them and stuff, don’t know how they work though. When we come here we meet a groundskeeper who assigns our trials, what we face depends on which one we meet."

Aerith wanted so desperately to lay back down on the grass and sleep but was against dropping his guard against the stranger. "Oh really, what trial did you take then?"

The boy blinked twice before answering. "Read some ancient text backwards."

"That doesn’t sound half as bad as facing a dragon." Aerith said sarcastically.

The boy blinked again, oddly enough as he had done before. "Lucky you, I’d take a dragon any day than to learn and transcribe a language in an hour."

Aerith tried not to be distracted as much as he could. "And how long have you been here exactly."

The boy started to pace back and forth on his high ground, his extremely handsome face showed its splendor from multiple angles and riled Aerith a bit. "Maybe ten minutes."

Aerith gave himself a mental punch in the gut. "And what does that get you idiot?" He noticed the boy staring at him weird for a while now and said out loud. "If you don’t mind me asking, where are you from exactly." Not that it would help him or anything but if they were related to his father in any way he could, now that he thought about it what was the point anyway? His life was screwed already, no need chasing dead trees.

A wide grin appeared on the young boys face as he spoke. "Don’t bother, the chances were from the same realm is slim. Aside from the three of you I don’t think anyone else here is part of your realm?"

"Realm, anyone else?" Aerith leaned over the side of the huge boulder to see a massive number of people all dressed different, some sat in silence while others became socially conversant. It took Aerith a while to let it sink in, he had almost forgotten that he wasn’t the only one called into the tower, there were others from apparently other realms— whatever that meant.

It made his skin crawl to think about being in a social gathering again, he would rather be a brick than talk to a random stranger let alone so many.

He turned to face the white haired boy and asked in a more confident tone. "And who are you if I may ask?"

"And yes you may." The white haired boy replied in a chipper voice. "I am Hizan, the white prince. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of it or it’s from a different realm from yours and you are?"

Aerith could not hide the look of confusion that blossomed on his face in that moment. His brain ached and he could not tell if it was his own loss of thought or some residue from the doorway he had just come through. "Wait a minute, he’s a prince of what? No wonder his head’s filled with clouds. But something doesn’t add up."

He cleared his throat and tried as best as he could to sound sensible and now abrasive. "Excuse me for asking but you were saying something about realms, I didn’t quite catch that. Care to go over that again."

He expected the boy to act as he had done for the very short span of time he had known him, flamboyant and aloof. But he surprised him by actually staying still on the huge boulder he had been parading in for a while now. He looked down at Aerith with amused eyes and a cozy smile, in Aerith’s eyes he looked like one of the models on the face of a promotional poster for a boy band. It made him want to barf out his inners. Luckily he did not have anything to actually throw up.

"What is he still looking at me like that, does he expect me to grovel to his prince-ness or something?" Aerith could only stand and ponder, the uncertainty in him was eating him up. It illuminated the truth of his situation, that he knew nothing about— well anything.

After what seemed like ages the white haired boy spoke, his voice was slow and meticulous. He could feel he was carefully selecting his words before he actually spoke, a trait Aerith was extremely cautious of. "I see, you really don’t know anything about anything. And here I was thinking you were more than those idiots on the other side."

Aerith was currently fighting an inner battled with the side of himself that wanted to rip the prince apart. "Next time I get dragged into a cursed tower I’ll make sure to read a book or two and make my research."

Hizan gave a hearty laugh that though sounded cheerful seemed to infuriate Aerith even more. The white prince laughed so hard tears began to form from his eyes, "You really are funny, alright I’ll tell you but at a price. But don’t worry I won’t ask if anything too demanding of a person of your standard only that you honour the request when the time comes."

Aerith paused and stared the the white prince with uneasy eyes, grumbling under his voice. "What kind of deal are you referring to and not that I’m trying to con you or anything but; what makes you think I’ll actually keep the deal either now or in the nearest future?"

Hizan yawned in an over exaggerated manner, clearly showing his boredom in him, only seconds ago he was actually laughing. "That prince is touched by madness." Aerith remarked in his head.

"Don’t be daft, I don’t know much about the tower but I’m sure the little I know can buy me a few favours and if you think you know what your doing then I suggest I best be on my way." The white prince turned to go.

Aerith cursed himself for being a bit too impatient for answers. "Fine, we have a deal then." It was not like he was duty bound to follow through on his end.

Hizan turned around and sat cross-legged on the huge boulder, his clothes surprisingly barely forming any wrinkles on them. "Very well then, realms are world in a sense. Like we all came from somewhere, some from the same world, some from other worlds perhaps infinite. These worlds are known as outer realms since they exist outside the tower. Everyone here is from a realm of their own, some the same, but not every realm will be the same in a matter of speaking. I’m sorry if I’m am terrible at explaining but you have to know the concept itself is a bit confusing."

Aerith gritted his teeth and spoke with conviction. "Don’t bother I understand perfectly. So I guess the tower is some sort of vast realm."

The white prince gave him a long hard stare that made him uncomfortable. "You actually took that well, remarkable. Others found it very hard to wrap around their heads."

Aerith replied in a bit of a sarcastic tone. "I guess I’m special in that way I guess, why don’t you skip the crap and tell me how long you’ve been here or what we are supposed to be doing here?"

Hizan grinned from ear to ear, "Now how would I know that, we been here for hours and more people keep pouring in so we are all in the dark here."

Aerith did not know whether he could trust the strange prince or not, he looked back to his comrades who still laid on the ground. Aerith’s mind was still chasing Hizan’s words when the faint sound of movement pulled him back to the present, he looked to see Emilia still unconscious on the ground as she had been moments earlier. But Nasha was awake and trying to roll over.

Seeing this he rushed over to her side to help her, it was a swift and very unstable motion but he had her turns over with her face facing up. She looked in a matter of speaking refreshed, ever since they had appeared in this strange field he had noticed that they were all being restored in a sense.

"Nasha, are you okay?" He asked with a concern he doubted was his to begin with.

He watched her eyes widened in horror as she stared at her lower half, he followed her gaze slowly till he saw what she saw. The visual before his eyes distorted and horrified him, his entire body froze in that instant and he was left speechless.

From her knee downwards, the rest of her legs were gone. Due to the fact that Aerith had been blinded after gazing at Annie’s true form he had not known the sacrifice she had paid to save them both. He had not also noticed it when he came through the gateway since he was disoriented by the scenery. Now seeing the state she was in, he broke down.

"When did this happen?" His voice fractured, becoming so distorted he could not tell if it was his anymore. For the very first time, the maid who had always obeyed his orders without batting an eye refused to speak. He asked again only this time it sounded like a loud grunt than actual words. "When did this happen dammit!"

Her watched her bold face which had always remained empty crack slightly, like a mask that had been smashed. He could see a tear forming in one of her eyes. His heart beat hard against his ribcage and he started to hyperventilate.

"Why is this happening, no one was supposed to get hurt." His brain exploded like a dynamite set off on the ocean floor. He did not think he was in the world of a story anymore, he was in an actual reality living, breathing and; dying in it. "I can breath, I need air."

His desperation started to sleep out of him, causing his vision to blur slightly. The white prince was still seated on the rock, he looked down at the both of them laying in the blades of tall grass. His eyes reflected the scene before him with a strange intent, his lips curled slightly not in a smile but a twitch.

"I’m sorry..." Diaphonous drops of liquid slid of the sides of his cheeks and his fingers wrapped right around her figure as her head tilted slightly on his lap. His heart slowed down till he could hardly hear it beat, no matter how many times he tried to breath the air was not enough. "It’s all my fault."

But how was it his fault?

He did not choose to be dragged into the tower, he did not choose for her to follow him. She made the decision on her own. So was that his fault?

Why did he even care for her, they had only had a few short encounters. Why did he even shed a tear for her? Just why did he feel responsible for her predicament?

It reminded him of the time he saw Emilia about to be burnt to the stake, only this time it was a bit different. In that situation he had to save her from the wrath of an angry mob. In this situation he had to be saved from the wrath of a dragon.

Why did he feel the roles were reversed?

"Why do you always have to save me?" His voice trembled with each word he took.

Nasha looked up at him, their eyes locking. More tears rolled down the sides of her face, and her lips trembled holding back something within. Eventually she spoke. "You saved me first."

Aerith’s eyes drilled deeper into his sockets lost in a pool of tears and emotion. Just what did she mean by that? Had he ever saved her?

The white prince looked away from them, hiding his face and sending his mind into the distance. Another wind blew by, this time colder and less forgiving. They had yet to begin the tower’s climb.

(1 luxury car within 24 hrs and I will drop 2 extra Chapter)