Chapter 10

Palms are sweaty, his knees weak, arms are heavy. The atmosphere is thick and he's worried, shit got scary. Alsi didn't know how he's going to get out of this situation, heck he doubted if he'll even make it out alive. Everyone was staring at him, others with greed, others with hate. 

      "What? The prince!?" The crowd murmured amongst themselves…

      "Have you seen the notices? He fetches for an amazing price! We are gonna be rich!"

     " No!" Luck jumped up to defend him,

      " He's not who you think he is! He's just a kid who got kidnapped!"

      "You must be an idiot if you're gonna believe that piece of crap!" The people in the crowd shouted.

      "Yeah! That's the first prince of Amaris! Everyone has been looking for him for days!"

      "What are you talking about!" Said Luck. Suddenly, Tatiana appeared with a blank look on her face, she looked lost and confused. Luck scanned Tatiana's expression, Alsi feared it. At this moment, Archer and Enegus had already joined Luck in this confrontation. 

      "What is it Tatiana?" Luck asked.

      Tatiana lifted up her hand and revealed a poster. Luck narrowed his eyes to read the contents. Suddenly the crowd had quieted down and it was a silent moment. Alsi took a few steps back but bumped into Enegus. Who still seemed to be trying to grasp the situation at hand. Luck started to turned his head slowly and began to speak…

      "All this time, we thought you were a lost and scared kid we found in the forest. Only to find that you're one of the disgusting degenerates who murdered my parents!" 

      "Luck, what are you saying?! You're scaring the child…" said Enegus. Luck simply took the same poster and handed it to Enegus. When he saw it, his expression became gloomy and he passed the poster on to Archer. Alsi kept trying to find a way out but he was surrounded everywhere. He ended up turning back to Luck and the group, who didn't emit the same lively energy that they did a while ago. Alsi knew there was no way out for him…

      'Shit! My cover has being blown, and of all places it had to be in this guild filled with broke peasants! How will I even get out of here!?'

      "YOU, you lied to us. You were trying to use us so that you can run away from the consequences of your actions!!" Said Luck.

      "My family, my whole race was wiped out because of the royal family! But now I can finally get vengeance!" Said Enegus. It's like they all just switched from the kind hearted adventurers they were to vengeful spirits. Someone from the crowd started to greedily offer their help to Alsi…

      " My prince! Allow me to rescue you from these imbeciles and return you to your home in the palace!" 

      The others in the crowd started sharing glances as this man, accompanied by his party, began to speak…

      "We, your loyal subjects would never betray you and wish to take your life. This kingdom needs a king and now that the first prince has arrived, everything will be back to normal!-"

      "Back to normal!?' Suddenly, Tatiana stood on another table to get above the crowd and be heard,' Are you kidding me!? If poverty and exploitation are what you call normal then you're completely insane! You don't even know the kinds of monstrosities people have suffered because of the royal family, you're just out here speaking out of your ass because you want the bounty for yourself!"

      People in the crowd started to support her, but there were still people who preferred taking Alsi back to Ari, ofcourse for their own selfish reasons.

      "If the Prince doesn't go back to the capital, we can forget about stability in the kingdom! Do you seriously want to be ruled by the military!?-"

      "I bet anyone is better than the son of that ruthless, neglective ruler!" Tatiana yelled with tears from her eyes. At this point the guild is split in two and as if there wasn't enough tension, someone threw a glass bottle which then hit someone on the head. It was right there that the situation escalated. Alsi knew he had to get out somehow. Before anyone else could throw a punch, Alsi pulled out the only trick he knew. He forced his hands to the floor and sparks began to form around him.When Enegus and Luck noticed, they tried to stop him but they were only pushed back by the impact of the explosion that Alsi caused. The whole guild was thrown into confusion and a massive black smoke screen spread through out the place. At this point everyone was punching anyone who seemed to be in the way. People were stumbling over eachother, others getting trampled, others were locked in a grappling match while others were more focused on trying to find Alsi. Where was Alsi? Well Alsi managed to find himself outside of the guild, coughing up the smoke he conjured up. It seemed more spacious and he felt like he could finally breath as he saw the blue skies above his head.

      -cough,cough- 'ah! That's the closest call ever! I have to get as far away as possible before the smoke clea-'

      Alsi suddenly found Tatiana's staff aimed straight at his head, the flow of kine was visible around it. Alsi felt the same kind of energy he felt back at the capital and he jumped. Tatiana missed with a burst of water bearing enough pressure to blow off his face. However, behind the guild is where they happened to be and they were surrounded by infrastructure and almost narrow paths. Tatiana missed her shot and Alsi kneeled down at the top of one of the buildings. When Tatiana lifted her head up at Alsi she revealed the murderous intent she beared in her eyes. Alsi didn't even recognize her. He wondered why she was suddenly hell-bent on killing him. Suddenly, Alsi found himself dodging Enegus's punches. Enegus threw six jabs in rapid sequence and the speed of his attacks increased with each second. Alsi fell victim to the assault once Enegus landed a hook that sent Alsi flying. He ended up on the other streets only to meet a mob of adventurers waiting for him. 

       'What the heck!?' 

       In mid flight the necklace was shaken from its original place and it's purple glow had intensified. Alsi managed to land on his feet, but he had the mob of adventurers to deal with. He started to run for his life and get some altitude by climbing the infrastructure rapidly in order to get to the next street. However he dismissed the fact that the other adventurers are capable of parkour. He was being pursued viciously and while they were bombarding him with fire, ice and throwing weapons he could hear some of them shouting out to him…

      "My Prince, I'll protect you!"

      'What the heck! How could they say that while throwing instruments of death straight at me!?'

      He found himself jumping from roof to roof but he suddenly tripped and stumbled. He then found himself hanging on to roof, the other adventurers were catching up and they started to attract the law enforcers. He weighed his options and decided to let go and drop, however, one of the adventurers who were pursuing him pulled him up and back over the roof however he beared the consequence of falling over himself. When Alsi found himself back on the roof he had to confront multiple opponents at the same time. One of them swinged a sword at him but he managed to dodge it and return with a mini explosion. Three more people came and attacked him, he swayed right and one of them fell off the building. However, one of the other two cut him on his right chick with a dagger, the other woman pushed the man aside and attempted to capture Alsi. Only to be pushed from behind by the other adventurers who were following behind. Alsi and some other adventurers ended up falling over.

      'Oh crap!' he thought.

      He screamed as he came closer and closer to the ground, however the first contact he made were some extended roofs below. He bounced off a few of them, sustaining injuries in the process until he met the ground with a painful impact. The other adventurers were closing in on him and there were some law enforcers with them. Alsi tried to get up but he felt too weak. His face was bleeding from the cut that the dagger left, he was black and blue and his hand was broken from the fall. All the energy seemed to have left his body. Groveling on the ground he was surrounded in an instant, to the left and to the right. He was hopeless, there was no getting out of this. The two factions again started to argue over whether to spare him or kill him. Either way Alsi knew he was still screwed. 

      Tatiana then appeared from the mob on the right of which Alsi was facing. She had the same blank look on her face but the moment she opened her mouth, everyone silenced themselves…

      "PEOPLE OF AMARIS! ARE YOU GOING TO LET YOUR GREED GET THE BEST OF YOU! ARE YOU GOING TO LET THESE ROYALS AND NOBLES TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR SUFFERING?!' Everyone looked at her in suprise, still trying to get the sense of what she was trying to say,' LOOK AT YOURSELVES, YOU ARE FIGHTING OVER A BOY THAT PROBABLY WON'T EVEN REMEMBER YOUR EXISTANCE ONCE HE BECOMES KING. THEY ARE PROMISING YOU MONEY IF YOU RETURN HIM.BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT IS ALL GONE?!" Tatiana yelled out to the mobs. They all started to contemplate what they just did and found that she was making alot of sense…

      "You think they won't take advantage of you?! The way they always have? Let me ask you all, how many of you think you got the wages that suited the job you took from the noticeboard?! How many of you have been a victim to the cruel treatment from the upper classed people?! Right now as we speak you will see children in the streets scavenging for their lives! And then this ungrateful bastard poses as a kidnapped child just so he can run away from his kingdom, his people!"

      'The bitch! I've never seen a woman change colours like that!' Alsi thought whilst still on the ground.

      " Are you seriously going to expect someone who runs from his responsibility to rule a kingdom?! Open your eyes! We all know that the Amaris family has caused us nothing but harm all of our lives! We can only change that if we stand up for ourselves, and it begins with getting rid of him!" Tatiana pointed to Alsi.  

     It began with one voice, then two, then three. Slowly the mobs started to chant…

      "To hell with the prince! To hell with the prince!"

      Tatiana had managed to get the whole town on her side as it wasn't just members of the guild who heard her speech, so did the local town's people and a few foreigners from Avon. A brown haired man stood in the crowd. He allowed a satisfied smile…

      "No more hurdles…" he said as he retreated and disappeared. Alsi could hear everyone loud and clear, chanting for his demise. Tatiana and her party came to the forefront but it wasn't her who was going to delete Alsi from this world. When Alsi shifted his gaze to Luck, he saw him drawing his sword slowly. Alsi could hear the steel as it left its sheath. He looked up at Luck, his eyes pleading for mercy, but Luck didn't seem emotionally available at the moment. All that was there was a vengeful face that only spelled oblivion for Alsi.

      'Crap! Ever since my kingdom was attacked it's just been a complete shit hole! I've drank filthy water, involved myself with filthy people and ate filthy things. And now I'm about to die by the hands of the same filthy individuals!?' Alsi thought to himself.

      'I wish…I wish…,' Luck still approached with murderous intent, Alsi looked at him and everyone else…' I WISH EVERYTHING IN THIS SORRY EXCUSE FOR A WORLD WOULD JUST VANISH!!' Alsi screamed in his head. Suddenly starting from Alsi, everything became invisible. No one could see anyone, nor the buildings in the distance, not even the ground they stood on. It's like the ground reflected the sky above, everyone being completely buffled at what they had just experienced was thrown into a panic. They didn't know what to do. Alsi on the other hand could see everything. He took the opportunity and ran through the mob in all their confusion, holding on to his broken arm with his right hand. He ran, ran, ran as far away from them as possible. The necklace he put on was glowing brightly but it began to dim, Alsi knew he didn't have much time. He tried to pick up the pace and ignore the immense pain his body was in until he finally found himself in the forests. Even so, he kept on running for his life. Past small rivers, past tall trees, past mystic creatures that looked on, he ran. He noticed that the crystal had become dimmer, and that the energy in him was vanishing.

      But he didn't want to stop, he wanted to survive even in a crappy world like this one. Even in a world where he was royally screwed over. He blamed the world for his cruel fate, but he also blamed himself. As much as he might have referred to Luck, Tatiana,Enegus and Archer as trash or peasents, he started to trust them. He could have just ran away when he had the chance but he decided to stay with them and he trusted them to deliver him to his destination. And now he was paying for it.

      'stupid! stupid! You idiot!' he told himself. He started to feel dizzy and weak, he knew he was at his limit. He began to slow down until he just collapsed. There he was once again, in the forests, back where he started. He felt the dirt embrace his face and some of it entered his mouth, he couldn't lift a single finger.

      'Come on Alsi, you're almost there!' he tried to force himself up but it was no use. His eyelids began to fall shut slowly. As he slips away into unconsciousness he can here voices in the distance approaching, getting louder.

      'Oh no!...they found me…' that was his last thought before he blacked out. And everything went pitch black.

      Meanwhile elsewhere,a tall man with red hair, wearing an all black uniform stood Infront of an empty throne. A voice from behind him called out to him respectfully…

      "My lord…", said the voice in a humble tone.

      "Any news…and good news at that." The red haired man emphasised.

      "Yes my lord, we have received word from Lyst. The stray dogs have been eliminated." The voice reported.

      "Is that so!' the man said in a deep but more enthusiastic tone,' That is good news. Then call the kine mages, and bring my dog, we will commence the ritual."

      Four older men dressed like temple monks walked in through the entrance to the big room that seemed to have gone through alot of destruction. And there were two soldiers dragging in a hopeless soul with them. The captive was brought Infront of the man to examine. The man looked at the young soul and said…

       "You belong to me now…"

      At the same time in another place, a young man threw a book into the fire. He stared at it as it went up in flames…

      "It's all futile…."