Chapter 35: Eyes
"That son of a b-"
"Ahhhhh~." Cleo quickly clamped his lips shut with its paws. "This is a PG 13 game. You can't swear."
"No one will hear me." He scoffed, pushing the fox away. "Besides, this would just serve as the cut scene and also, the time is frozen."
"Doesn't change my programming." It shook its head. "Now that you are caught up with this, I will resume the game. Just remember that the time may switch any time."
"Ok." He said, nodding. "I am supposed to be grieving, right? I can do that."
Once he nodded, Cleo disappeared and everyone began to move once again as Ace carefully took one slice of carrot and bit into it.
"So, I heard that you are the sixth son of King Isiah." He heard a loud voice blurt out and looked forward to see the man with the goat head and crown talking to him.
"Yes." He said, smiling innocently. What is he even talking about?
"Does the king not have any more children? I thought he did, from what I heard." The person at the side of him asked. The one that he was about to stab only before.
"The king does have more children. Most have died though." He said, adding a hint of sadness in his voice.
Rule number one. He remembered his mother say. Unless you get the crest of the king, you are not a prince nor are you to address yourself as such.
You are one lower than the servants, an invisible name in the corridors. It is only my servants that will respect you as the prince, otherwise, you are nobody.
Yes, mother.
So far, there are six people with the crest from the king and they are the only ones that the king actually introduces as his children.
Ace took a sip of the water beside him. I pity those that want to gain father's approval so much. They have awful intuition. And that cost so many their lives.
Without meaning to, Ace placed the cup down on the table a little harder than he intended to, startling all that sat on the table.
He saw the woman with the head of a sheep whispering to the man before he did that. She was also wearing a crown, so she must be the queen.
They look like they love each other dearly, given the way they looked at each other.
Yuck.
"Are you alright?" The king asked, wiping his mouth with a cloth.
"I apologise." He said, wringing his hands under the table while trying not to show any panic on his face. "This atmosphere reminded me of my mother suddenly and … I must have been a little overzealous."
"You poor thing." The woman sheep said, brows (?) furrowing at him. "It must have been hard to cope with the death of your mother. How old did you say you were?"
"I was twelve when that happened." He said, gripping at the table cloth as the image of Ajax bruised and beaten flashed across his mind.
I should have killed every one of them. Who knows what kind of humans they will grow up to be like?
"Twelve." The woman gasped, bringing him back to reality. "The poor child. May I ask … what happened?"
"Dear." The king said, patting her hand. "I don't think that is the best thing to ask a boy coming here to try and forget about what happened."
"Oh. I apologise." She quickly covered her mouth with her hands. "I did not mean to make you feel uncomfortable."
"I am fine with talking about it." Ace said, smiling. "It is only the night terrors for the past years that have been inconveniencing me greatly."
"You poor thing. So young and so vulnerable." She said, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. "Do finish your dinner up. You just arrived after all. You must be tired. My daughter here will show you to your room."
She patted the girl beside her and he noticed that she had a head of a bird, some kind of dove perhaps.
Is she adopted? But the father and mother have different heads as well. How does this work? I'll need to ask Cleo later.
"Thank you." He said, smiling at them.
Suddenly, he felt his vision blur slightly and, blinking away the cloudy mist in his eyes, he noticed that he was walking with the pigeon girl from earlier.
"Do you go out often, your highness?" She asked, turning to him as she held the candle close to her.
"Not as often as I would like." He said, recovering as quickly as he could. How he was able to do that, he could not tell but it is helping him right now.
Is it because this would turn into something like a memory for the player to unlock? Hmmmmmm~.
"What about you, princess?" He asked, following her as the entire castle seemed shrouded in darkness and the only light is coming from her candle.
"Oh, I have never been out of the kingdom." She chuckled. "But I don't know if I want to go out."
"And why is that?"
"Well, father always said that the people out there are cruel and will take advantage of me." She shrugged then quickly changed the topic. "Can you do magic?"
"Can't you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the countless paintings all along the walls.
"Our magic is not like yours. Yours is beautiful and soft while ours is … rugged." She said, looking at the paintings as well.
The two paused as he turned to the girl staring up at one particular painting.
It was of a little girl with human features, smiling brightly while she sat on a swing with flowers all around her.
"She is cute." He remarked. "Your sister?"
"How did you know?" The girl asked, slightly startled.
"There is a resemblance." He lied. His mouth was just running itself and he just wished it would stop. "I can see you in her."
"She is … normal." She said, frowning. "That is why she was able to go out of the kingdom. While I …"
"Who said you weren't normal?" He asked tilting his head to her, genuinely confused.
She looked at him, eyes wide before bursting into a laugh. "You are too kind."
"I couldn't see how." He said, smiling back at her. Looking at the candle in her hands, he walked forward and grasped it. "May I?"
"Oh, you don-"
"Let me show you something." He said, eyes gleaming slightly.
"O-ok." She said, letting go of the candle as Ace placed his hands on top of the flame.
He only remembered the spell placed on him by Zoe when he felt a stinging on his arm after using the magic.
Sh-
Fortunately, it was a simple spell so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
The flame turned blue and dispersed into little firefly looking things as they circled them.
"Wow." The girl said, eyes gleaming as they followed them. One of them landed on her hand and dispersed. "Beautiful."
"Thank you." He said, smiling at her as he clutched his trembling arm as the heat seemed to spread all over. "Shall we get going?"
"Yes." She said as they made their way with these little lights following and lighting up their path.
Ace touched one of them and, fortunately, they are not hot so he didn't have to worry about them burning anything.
The rest of the walk to his room was relatively peaceful and once he was inside, he collapsed to the floor, gripping his arm. He gritted his teeth to prevent himself from cursing out in pain.
"What's wrong?" Cleo appeared suddenly.
"M-my … my arm." He managed to say out as Cleo flew to his arm and looked at it.
"Oh no."
"What?" He asked as Cleo began to glow and shone on his arm. His breath hitched as he stared at it.
The marking is tightening around his wrist, swelling the other sides and making every movement hurt.
"Damn it." He hissed as it grew even tighter. "Why-"
"I think, every time you use magic that is not for the destruction of them, it will grow even tighter until you don't have a hand anymore," Cleo explained, scanning the thread. "Yup. This is bad."
"I only used it once." He hissed. "Can't you do something about it?"
"I'm sorry." Cleo shook its head. "I can't interfere with something so embedded in the storyline of this."
"How am I supposed to take care of this then?" he asked, looking at Cleo with fury burning on his face.
"Oh no," Cleo said, staring at him as it slowly backed away from him, fear in its eyes.
"What?" He asked, feeling it grow tighter and tighter.
"Y- your … your eyes." It said, pointing to him. "They are turning white, just like them."
"No. If this comes out. I won't be able to control myself." He said, feeling himself lose grip of his own body. "Cleo, help me."
"What should I do?" It said, panicking as it flew everywhere around him.
"Take m-" Ace blinked and his vision turned black.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone