OUT (8)

When he fluttered his eyes open, long lashes flapped like elegant butterfly wings. The beautiful, chubby prince have just woken up from a long sleep that he has long yearned for since his journey from the palace. Not long after, his stomach growls in hunger at the scent of a roasted meat being burnt from the warm fire.

"Chu Lian, Song Yan, Li Xiaoli... This prince is hungry," he lazily mumbled. But there was no response, sending anxiety crawling into the back of his mind. His stomach grumbles like a whiny boar and yet no one came to make a joke at him. "Chu Lian, Song Yan, Li Xiaoli... Where are you?"

The prince wanted to scream but his anxiety have eaten up his courage, leaving only residual amounts of his strength to finish his words in a whisper. His three trusted servants have always been by his side ever since he could remember. 'Where are you?'

In no matter of a few seconds to even pass, sniffling sounds left his small mouth. Chubby, soft cheeks trembled and a pair of soft eyes turned so watery that tears fell like waterfalls. "You three, to endanger your master like this! This is treason! Chu Lian, Song Yan, Li Xiaoli!"

Because of hunger, because of fear and because of doubts, his vision started to blur. Cries echoed throughout the previously camp fire event.

Suddenly, a loud yet calm, demanding voice called out to silence the young teenager.

"Can you shut up, little prince?"

The important Celes Fallon de Lin just cannot continue her meditation so long as the child beside her kept crying as if someone just died!

"Huh?"

"Huh? I need silence, this master is trying to breakthrough my bottleneck!"

"I-insolence. How could you, a woman--"

'A woman?' The modern woman Celes Fallon de Lin who lived the modern life that supported gender equality gnashed her teeth. A set of thick and bushy yet finely shaped brows raised higher than a sky tower. "You mysoginystic kid, let this boss teach your ignorant brain how capable and powerful woman is!"

A few hours ago, the prince cried because of fear but now he cried in misery from being disciplined and taught for so long, eyebags formed atop his chubby cheeks.

"So... Tell me, who is your teacher? Fire him!"

"This prince is sorry," the child mumbled but his defiant eyes dared to look away.

A nerve popped in Celes' head so with a wide, excited grin and murderous eyes boring a hole into the ancient prince's skull, she asked as gentle as possible. "Say what? You want to go physical? Huh?"

"I-" The boy finally looked at the older girl, eyes turning submissive and respectful, "I am sorry. I know my wrongs. This prince is sorry." He even went as sincere as to hold her palm into his two soft, white hands. All the pride of a royal have left the boy and leaving an actual, normal person.

Celes' eyes widened by a fraction. "You apologize like an elderly."

'Elderly?' The prince's cheeks reddened.

Luckily, Celes have really favored him very well. A small laugh leaves her lips as she held his soft hands back with hers then followed by a pinch on his cheek. "I like it! Keep being like this, I like it."

'I like it. I like it. I like it. I like it.' The prince's ears reddened as well. His new friend, his fiance just confessed to him! A chubby, powerless prince!

He nodded and finally accepted all her lecture that lasted for almost an hour after waking up. "I like you too."

Celes Fallon de Lin's jaw dropped. At the background, it seemed like a bunch of cute sheeps surrounded the boy. His smile was lovely and the diamond in the rough really have shown itself just now. A pat on the head for the prince and a quick, odd silence ensued.

'How can I truly suck him dry of his Qi if he behaves like this?' Celes panicked. Celes was a merciless monster but there would always be a soft spot left out like an almost, non-existent crack in her stone cold heart. 'I know, I will keep you alive forever!'

Such problem have been quickly resolved in a small matter of time. Feeling proud of herself, Celes started acting out in a random plan that just kept coming in her loose screw mind.

"Prince, I want to break through and I can feel it. In a few minutes, I will become a high ranked martial warrior but. . . With your help, I can skip to a low ranked Martial Knight!"

Seeing that the prince's soft, sincere eyes started fading into doubt and fear, Celes voiced out, "Through this, we can find Song Yan, Chu Lian and Li Xiaoli quicker!"

With his needs included, he nodded his head. But he also asked a question that he almost forgot. "Where is the Sphinx?"

Celes scoffed. "That? It's gone. You are safe." To tell the sheltered prince that the Devour have fed on it this time might frighten the boy to death.

"Where is it?"

"I burned it," she replied. 'How flawless,' Celes complimented herself.

"Oh." His eyes looked far that moment, unable to believe her but considering that this person lived in such a cursed forest, she might be telling truths so far. No matter how low her cultivation is.

"Then will you come closer to this friend?"

"This prince will do you favor as a thank you."

"Yeah, no worries." She non-chalantly replied before Celes crossed her legs as she sat on the ground, straightened her back and let her palms lay open atop her knees. "So just lean against my back with yours while following my pose."

". . ."

Celes waited but only a cold wind brushed too harshly against her back. "Where are you?"

"It is forbidden for a man and a woman to be sitting side by side from the age of seven!"

"Uhh, aren't you too innocent?" Celes badly wanted to add 'ignorant' and lecture him again about innocence of children being defiled by social norms but already knowing the boy, who is also a royal would just drag things further. She controlled her temper with a pinch on her thighs. "It is fine. I am your friend. In no time you will get used to this ad I will be needing your help alot. Just so you know, this location is loved by high ranked beasts because it is where the fog is the thinnest, you can do stargazing and even have a lake nearby. So yes or no?"

The prince's body trembled. Adrenaline rush flowed forcefully through his cholesterol clad veins. His ears and cheeks flushed. Even so, what this friend said was true. So he sat as close as possible to the woman and leaned against hers.

"Thank you!" Celes closed her eyes and exercised her breathing followed by the boy behind her. 'Geez, finally.'

On an empty grassy spot, a pair of youth meditated and sat against each other's backs. Serene faces with closed eyes continued to slowly breathe in and out in long periods. A dark aura have surrounded the girl but it was growing bigger and bigger and continuously tried to penetrate into the boy's light, gold aura. After a few moments, the black aura have not just surrounded the female but also the boy despite his stubborn but weakening spiritual force.

A sense of pain have pricked internally into his muscles and organs like cold yet searing hot needles. Sweat broke out as his meridians pumped so much Qi throughout his spiritual veins. Even the cholesterol-clad veins of his physical counterpart have been burning with his boiling blood. The young prince coughs out with some liquid falling out of his mouth sending him into a sense of panic fearing that it might be blood and this was going to shorten his life the further he went through with his friend's request.

Celes on the other hand felt a warm embrace around her as her devour filtered out the impurity from the boy's body and let it flow into her vast spiritual ocean. The sense of security reminded Celes of nostalgic memories of her many parents throughout her lives and also, the warmth of the soft beds. Sadly, the calming scent of lavender and vanilla did not greet her but rather the stench similar to that of the rotten hole from monyhs ago as if Celes have unknowingly landed herself back into that illegal dumping site! She grits her teeth. 'It must be the boy being cleansed of his impurities.'

Though her stomach squirmed and vomit threatened to push through the esophogus, Celes concentrated as not to break her concentration. And yet one after another, the boy started squirming! Celes had no other choice but to man handle the kid by his arms with hers hooked around them just to maintain their position.

"It is alright little prince. Prove yourself!"

Hearing such words, the boy's struggling stopped.The maiden trusted him this much! How can he disappoint his friend? Such words of encouragement from Celes have definitely have so much effect on the prince!

He did not know how much time has passed but he had woken up later with a head pressed against his. Knowing that it was no other than his friend, he turned to let her head fall onto his shoulder. Unfortunately, the female was much taller than him because she was older making his expectation fall. Her head still rested on his but it seemed to not bother her. Her mouth was open and her drool leaked at the side of her mouth.

But this did not matter! The prince held her slim, tanned hands. "You are just too overwhelming. . . Like the foreign rose among the field of peonies in grandmother's garden."

Not a word was spoken any longer because the prince believed it would wake up the older girl. Also, he felt so drained and exhausted despite the lightness of his body. Black, liquid matter have also poured out of his pores and matted his skin.

Thus in no time, Celes woke up. She pinched her nostrils close and looked at him. "You should shower."

The boy sighed. "Good morning."

Celes grinned. She did not make him feel bad about secreting so much impurities because she could feel it. Her Qi flowed well and her spiritual force have finally closed the leaking spiritual ocean. With this, her cultivation would not hit bottlenecks any longer! With this boy, everything would be so much better.

New plans began to gather in her head. Every thing just keeps on changing and more memories of the previous Celes Fallon de Lin have started to return to her.

Most importantly, the old Celes died at the age of 42 years of age. The youngest divine beast to die. But now? She had regressed back to a 17 year old when a divine beast have yet to mature. In other words, Celes was free from her pursuers unless they claim that she was her own child and pin the blame on her.

She looked at the boy once again. With him in the equation, things would probably change.