Chapter 11

*Meow…Meow*

      A cat was heard in a small room. The wooden floors creaked as it jumped down and moved on from what it was curiously inspecting. The light of a sunset ran through the windows and revealed the different bottles of medicines and ointments on a table beside a bed. On this bed, rested a boy who just opened his eyes to this new location he found himself in. He tried to get up but the pain in his body objected to that option…

      "Ouch!" He laid back down. He then observed himself, he noticed he was bandaged. 

      ' Where the heck am I now? One moment I'm about to get my head decapitated from my body…the next I'm in some random place.'

      He heard someone coming upstairs so he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. A man who seemed to be in his fortys, walked into the room with a small basin of water. His hair was grayish white and he was dark skinned. His eyes were sky blue, however it seemed that the depth of the colour had grown shallow with age. He dragged a chair from the corner of the room and set it near the table next to the bed. He put the basin down with his left hand and grabbed the cloth that was on the table as he sat down. He dipped it in the water and added some kind of liquid medicine. After this he suddenly stopped what he was doing, he looked at Alsi for about two minutes and said…

      "It's no use pretending boy, I know you're awake."

      Alsi cursed in his head and opened his eyes. He found himself trapped by this man's eyes. They observed eachother cautiously as if the two were in some western cowboy stand off. Alsi tilted his head slightly, the man finally spoke…

     "In case you're wondering how you got here, my son and I found you in the forests near the borders. You're very lucky, we just happened to be on our way home from traveling when we found you. Right now we're a good distance from the borders, it was a hustle just getting you through in the first place, but everything turned out fine."

      " Oh, I see. Where are we exactly? " Alsi asked.

      "We're in the outskirts of Avon."

      "Really?" Alsi tried to restrain the excitement in his voice. 

      "Yes." Replied the man.

      Alsi was glad he managed to get away from Amaris. He thought he was going to die had he stayed there any longer. Now the only problem he was facing was survival. How was he going to make it in this new land? He kept on pondering over his enigma with a perplexed expression on his face. The man noticed the look, and it wasn't something he hadn't seen before. 

      "You seem troubled…" he said.

      "...what-oh- me?" Said Alsi. The dark skinned man just kept looking at him.

      "Oh…well, I just miss my home. I miss my family. I just want to see them again…" Alsi started to fake crying…

      ' This will make him feel sorry for me. Maybe I can make use of him…'

      "Who do you think you're fooling boy?" Said the man. Alsi stopped making his faked sounds immediately. 

      " You're a very peculiar kid. I knew it the first time I saw you in the capital." Said the man. Alsi turned his head back to him…

      "What the hell are you talking about?"

      "You don't miss your home at all. You've been missing for some days now. There are posters of you everywhere in Amaris, someone should have found you by now and taken you back. That didn't happen, it's either you got kidnapped, or you didn't want to be found."

      Alsi knew that he had been caught…again.

       "You were the one in that cloak back there. So you found me in the forest on your way back here. It all makes sense now." A silence sunk in after Alsi spoke…

      "You plan on taking me back there after I'm all healed up, am I wrong?" He said. The man had a habit of leaving someone hanging in the conversation for a while. He now continued his treatment and pressed the wet cloth on Alsi's wounds. Alsi yelped when he felt the pressure on his body stimulate the pain in that area. The man carried on despite Alsi's reactions to the pain.

      "Ah! It freaking hurts!"

      "You're very whiny, my son wouldn't have made such irritating sounds." Said the man.

      "Well you should have considered that before smuggling a beat up stray prince into your house…" Alsi grimaced. The man laughed heartily when he heard those words from Alsi.

     "You're a funny kid." He continued with his treatment and Alsi laid there trying hard not to cry…

      "-ergh!- Why don't you just use a healing ability or something?" Alsi asked whilst irritated.

      "I did, it's just that your wounds were severe. I'm not good with healing kine so I can only heal some minimal damage. Otherwise, your arm is broken and you sustained some burns and bruises. It will take a while before you're completely healed up." Whilst the man was saying all this, Alsi saw a boy about his age peeping through the door. When their eyes met he retreated rapidly.

      'hmm, I guess my subjects are already getting impatient.' Alsi thought.

      The man finished with the treatment and asked Alsi if he could stand up and walk. When Alsi got up he didn't feel as much pain as he did before. He managed to stand on his feet. His arm was wrapped up in bandages and a piece of white cloth was passed around it and tied behind his neck to keep it in a specific position. 

      "You can call me Agyro by the way…' Said the man as he handed Alsi his black and orange cloak.

      'Surprisingly it was the only thing on you that could be counted as 'clothing'. You don't wanna see the rest. You can thank Ceal for the trousers you're wearing." 

      ' Again and again, I am being violated.' he thought to himself in disgust.

      "Let's go downstairs for dinner, I'm sure Serena has already prepared a wonderful meal as always." Said Agyro. He seemed to be fantasizing over twhe food already. Alsi set the cloak on the bed and followed Agyro downstairs. A dark skinned boy with deep blue eyes set the dining table calmly. He set the spoons and forks patiently as he hummed to a tune he constructed. The kitchen seemed more or less modern. It still took on a wooden theme though. There were a few flowers at the centre of the dining table which stood in the middle of the kitchen. A fireplace burned nearby to keep the house warm. The young boy just finished setting the table when a figure popped up behind him. 

      "You should stop doing that, it's creepy." He said.

      "Did you see him?" The figure asked in the voice of a young girl.

      "Yes I did." Said the boy in an irritated tone.

      "What does he look like?" The girl asked.

      " Like a clown, that's what…" he replied.

      " Oh come on Ceal! Just tell me…"

      " Fine!" Ceal resigned to his sister's persistence.

      "He's got cool hair, it looks a lot like a fire."

      "Really!? What else did you see?" Serena was intrigued.

      "Hmm, apart from his red eyes and the his beat up condition there isn't much difference between him and other kids." Said Ceal.

      "You're just jealous because he's a prince from the neighboring kingdom!"

      "Ha! Please, I have no time. And aren't you supposed to be looking after the food?"

      Serena just remembered, she rushed back to the stove where she left the food cooking. It was at this moment that Alsi came downstairs with Agyro. Ceal ignored their presence at first, he seemed to be in a day dream. It was only when Agyro and Alsi reached the table that Ceal broke out of his trance and looked at them. Agyro proceeded to make introductions.

      "Alsi, this is my son, Ceal." Said Agyro.

      "Yo." Ceal raised a peace sign with his right hand and had his left stuffed in his pocket.

      "...Hi?" Alsi didn't know how to respond to him. He reminded him of one of those classmates who didn't seem to care much about anything. Serena just set the food on the table for everyone to eat…

      "And this beautiful sweety pie right here is my daughter…Serena." Alsi felt it kinda awkward to hear that. Serena took the initiative to shake his hand.

      "Hi I'm Serena and I like your hair, it's really cool." She said calmly.

      "Thanks, I get that alot." Said Alsi.

      "What are we waiting for, I'm hungry!" Said Agyro as he sat by the table with his head in his hand. 

      "Oh, right!" Serena rushed to dish out the food. Ceal and Alsi sat facing eachother whilst waiting for their plates. Ceal had a kind of strange energy that made Alsi curious. As everyone started to eat, Alsi was observing each and everyone of them. Agyro seemed to be an outgoing person who has had his fair share of experiences even in his middle ages. He lacked in table manners though, and he talked with his mouth full. Ceal was more reserved than the rest of his family, he seemed like an odd character who had many secrets to hide. Serena, was more or less like her father, she ate the same way too. 

      ' My analysis might be wrong though. I mean it's not until yesterday that I learne that people aren't what they seem to be. I shouldn't let my guard down…wait…' 

      Alsi just noticed that the necklace he had around his neck was missing. He felt around his chest for the familiar texture but it was not there.

      "Umm, Agyro…" he said.

     "Uhmm?" Agyro answered.

      "I had a necklace around my neck last time I checked."

      "Oh, you mean this one?" Ceal pulled out the silver chained necklace with a purple crystal from under his shirt. 

      "Hey! That's mine!" Said Alsi.

      "Not anymore…" Said Ceal.

      "Do you know how much that thing cost!? Get your dirty hands off of it!" Alsi banged the table with his left hand. Serena looked on to see where this was going. Agyro just kept munching away happily at his food.

      "What if I don't…what are you gonna do about it." Said Ceal.

      Alsi looked at him for a minute, and then he stretched out his hand towards him. Orange-ish red sparks started to circulate around his hand, forming a flame in his hand. Serena was suprise with what she was seeing, Agyro turned his head to see what was going on, Ceal just stared at Alsi blankly. When Alsi sent off the fireball it was suddenly extinguished. Alsi was shocked at what just happened…

      "What!? This can't be happening! What's happening!?" He said as he kept trying to light a fire, failing repeatedly.

      "This necklace seems to affect my kine control in some way, it's like I have better control over it." Said Ceal.

      "Really?!" Serena moved away from her seat and rushed upstairs. She came back with a huge book which she banged on the table.

      "Ceal, can I see the necklace?" She said. Ceal took off the necklace and handed it over to her. She set it next to the book and started looking through the pages rapidly. She stopped on a page with a picture that looked identical to the necklace.

      "I knew it!" She said triumphantly.

      "What is it?" Ceal asked.

      "This is a very rare item you've got here, it's called synth."

      "Who cares what the heck it's called I want it back you bitch!" Ceal shot back on his sister's behalf.

      "How dare you call my sister a bitch!?"

      "Oh, you feel left out ,okay…you're the son of a bitch."

      "Why you-"

      "Okay…that's enough." Said Agyro as he held Ceal back.

     "You're ruining this amazing meal-" Serena interrupted her father by clearing her throat loudly.

      "Oh sorry honey."

      "It's okay, as I was saying…this necklace is called synth. It boosts an individual's control over their kine energy. If you hadn't noticed why Alsi's flame kept going off, it's because Ceal kept on closing off the oxygen on it. However this necklace can only be worn by a few individuals who have rather different or strange kinds of energy."

      "What!? There's no way this peasent could be on my level!" Alsi protested. Ceal simply looked at him and stuck out his tongue to tease him. There hasn't been anyone who has gotten on his nerves for the whole time he had been in this world. Not even in his previous life did he ever encounter someone with such a level of defiance. 

       "You don't deserve to even set you eyes upon my glorious person. You are just some insignificant cockroach scavenging from the bits of my crap!"

      "Oh if you're so high and mighty, then it'd be unfitting for a god such as yourself to be wearing the pants of a useless cockroach such as me. Here let me relieve you of this shame!" Ceal dived across the table and tightly grabbed the pants Alsi was wearing. They both lost balance and fell to the ground. Serena got fed up with trying to explain the specifics of the necklace so she just closed the book and continued munching away at her food. Agyro found this entertaining and started to laugh out loud. 

      "LEAVE MY FREAKING PANTS ALONE YOU PSYCHO!" Alsi shouted.

      "FOR YOUR INFORMATION THEY ARE MY PANTS! GO PUT ON THE RAGS YOU HAD ON YESTERDAY!" Ceal shot back as he pulled harder.

      "LEAVE ME ALONE!" 

      Suddenly, Alsi felt a cool breeze below his belly, this airy feeling made him hot with embarrassment. Everyone went quiet, Agyro and Serena suddenly widened their eyes. Ceal smirked diabolically and his blue eyes seemed to glow despicably…

      "There it is, the god's great and mighty kitchen knife." Agyro was hit hard by Ceal's statement and he knocked back in laughter. Ceal started to wave the pair of pants around. Alsi covered his private area with his left hand 

      ' I swear, I swear hell would have been better than this.'

      Serena giggled lightly as she approached Alsi and threw a blanket over his butt naked body. 

      "Sorry, prince Alsi…but if you're going to live here and train with us, you have to be initiated first." Said Ceal.

      "Couldn't you at least wait till he healed up boy?, how ruthless!" His father was still laughing his lungs out.

      "What the hell are you talking abo-"

      "Ceal considered taking you back to Ari and getting the prize cash in return. But Dad said it wouldn't be right to judge someone before you really get to know them. So Ceal said that if you were going to live with us then he'd be the one to initiate you."

      "So you're basically saying you guys are all strangers until you cruelly embarrass eachother."

      "Oh that wasn't for you joining our family, that was for you joining our legacy." Said Ceal.

      "What do you mean…?"

      "You're going to find out, as soon as you start training." Said Agyro when he finished laughing.

      ".... training!?"