Strange Creatures

Wait. What??

But ... didn't he want some kind of negotiation? Why would I level this kingdom to the ground? What would he gain from it?

"I beg your pardon, your majesty." He said, not hiding his surprise.

"Yes." He heard the man say out slowly. "That is the confusion I wanted to see."

Ace's face contorted into disgust before he could help himself and he quickly shook his head to relax his facial muscles. "May I ask why?"

"You may." The man moved again. "But I have a question to ask you first."

"And that would be?"

"What do you think is the best way to assert dominance?" He could see the man's red eyes glowing in the dark. He is testing him.

What is the right answer? Ace thought, mind racing a mile a minute. I ... I don't know. The game did not tell much about this man.

He looked through his mind as much as he could, hoping memories of this man would appear magically and he would be able to form an answer. That was not what happened though.

Damnit. No plot armour. He thought, frowning. Whatever, just wing it.

"Why don't you tell me the answer to that question?" He asked back, staring defiantly at his eyes even though he wanted to pull away from them as fast as he could.

"Afraid that you may say the wrong answer, boy?" The man asked, clearly amused.

"What do you think, father?" Ace asked, smiling back that the man as it seems that he is able to see him, though he can't do the same.

"Normally, I would have gotten mad at being asked a question back instead of an answer," he said, taking another puff as the smoke filled the room even more, reaching Ace's nose.

He held his breath, trying not to get the smell into his system.

"But I have yet to find someone to openly defy me." He said, tilting his head to the side. "It has been far too long. So I will excuse it for now. But I will appreciate an answer next time I ask a question."

"I will remember that." Ace said, breathing a sigh of relief in his head. I am an idiot that exists only to make dumb decisions.

"The best way to assert dominance-" He said, taking another breath of smoke before blowing it out –"is by force and instilling fear into the hearts of everyone around you."

Is that so? He thought. Awful role model of a father. No wonder your kids turned out like this.

"So … what do you want me to do?" He asked, frowning slightly. "No. WHY do you want me to destroy that kingdom? From what I remembered, you did not resort to violence unless they started it."

"That is the reason why I need you to be there for more than a week." He chuckled. "You will create the chaos before 'having' to destroy the place."

"May I ask why?" Ace asked and quickly closed his lips when he saw that man's eyes flash a bright red once again.

"Boldness is good, boy." He said, blowing out a cloud of smoke. "But you should know who you are addressing when you … display this boldness."

"Yes, father." He forced the words out of his mouth and gave him a slight bow. "When shall I leave?"

"Tonight." He said dismissively. "The carriage is waiting for you. Go to it. Bring nothing back."

"Yes, father." With a bow, he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him as he let out a breath of relief.

"Hello." He heard a cheerful voice say as he looked up to see Zoe smiling brightly at him. "Been to meet father?"

"Yes. And you?" Ace asked, leaning against the door, trying to hide the nervousness he felt coursing through his body.

"I am on my way to father's room as well." He said, grinning. "After all, this is the only room in this entire hallway."

"Ah." He said, pushing himself off the door and walked past the boy who grabbed his arm to stop him.

"What do you think you are doing?" He asked, holding the hand that Zoe grabbed up.

"Me?" He asked, pretending to be innocent. "Nothing. I just want to talk to my little brother."

"Don't call me that." He shrugged the boy's hand off him, rubbing it slightly. "You placed a spell on my hand, didn't you?"

"As expected of father's favourite." He chuckled, leaning in. "You really made a name for yourself didn't you, kid."

"What is this spell about?" Ace asked, seeing a light blue thread appear on his arm. More like in his arm though. It couldn't be pulled out.

"Just a little protection spell for my dearest brother." He chuckled. "You should get going. I heard father has a mission for you."

"Get this off." Ace held his hand up as Zoe walked to the door, ignoring him.

"I can't." He opened the door, winked at him and then walked in.

What is this? Ace thought, trying to scratch it out but it would not budge no matter what he tried.

"Done!" Cleo appeared in front of him, smiling happily. "I am done with the system co- what's wrong?"

"That kid placed this spell on me." He hissed, still trying to get the thread out. "I don't even know what this is for."

"Let me see." Cleo turned into a screen and stood in front of him as it began to scan the line. "Hmmmm."

"What?"

"It would seem that this is a pretty harmless spell." It turned back, frowning. "But … it is putting quite a bit of a problem on us."

"What do you mean?"

"Well … you need to travel forward in time right?" It asked gleefully. "Best we finish that first before we bother about this."

"Why do I feel like that is a very bad idea?" Ace asked, looking at Cleo.

"It is pretty harmless," Cleo said. "I don't think anything is going to happen. Anything too bad that is."

"What? Shouldn't we-"

"Oh? Look at the time." Smoke filled them as Ace looked around, confused. Sharp pain ran through his wrist and they disappeared and he opened his eyes to see a mountain of food in front of him.

At his left are people in chef uniforms and with heads of poultry animals walking around, carrying raw vegetables around the long table.

What the hell?

He looked in front of him and came face to face with a girl who had the eyes of a dragonfly on her human face, startling him.

Ace grabbed the knife in front of him and was about to attack him but Cleo stopped him as time around them paused.

The heavy smell of something cooking filled his nose as hundreds of candles light up the room. Not bright enough though.

All the food in front of him is plates and plates of vegetables. Even in his own one, there are raw, cut carrots with spinach and hay.

"What is going on, Cleo?" Ace asked, stepping up from his seat to look around the room.

"You are in the kingdom you were supposed to be in," Cleo said as Ace felt a faint burning on his wrist and looked as the line remained etched into his skin.

"But?" he asked, rubbing his sore wrist.

"You aren't in the time you were supposed to be in." It said, looking around him. "You were supposed to go to the time when you were about to destroy this kingdom."

"What happened?" Ace asked, looking at his arm. "Wait. I think I know."

"Yeah," Cloe said as the two looked down at the marking on his wrist. "I didn't think it would cause this many problems."

"What is this spell anyway?"

Cleo sighed, turning to him, "It is to cause disturbances. I think that is why you were able to destroy the entire kingdom, laid it to waste."

"I did?" As soon as he asked that, a distant memory flashed across his mind and he remembered trying to help the kingdom using his magic.

But it went out of hand and he accidentally summoned large, flaming boulders from the sky. They rained down on the kingdom, destroying everything in its path.

Ace tried to run and help them but he couldn't, the more he used his magic, the more it seemed to backfire. The boulders never touched him, nor did the flames or the destruction.

The ground shook when he tried to help some of these creatures with human heads and swallowed them whole. Blood spilt out of the cracks on the ground as soon as it closed on the people there.

Ace's stomach churned as the screams grew louder and louder, filling him as he felt his breath hitch and blood began to splash on his face.

The smell of smoke filled him as he tried to look around him but his vision was growing dim.

Suddenly, the scene changed.