Chapter 2 The Underworld

'We shouldn't be here man' whines the tall boy, the last of his adventure spirit chiseled away with every last drop of the rain, the tall boy stops next to a tree carving an 'X' on the tree branch, and he proceeds to follows close behind his friend, looking back every two steps. The two boys led by the ominous glow of the moon and the flashlights they stole from the tall boys' father, which will get them grounded for three generations, have been walking in new lands for a full day now, struggling to find the kingdom they know only from stories.

'Oh come on, we are so close we can't possibly go back now' his friend resorts back, hand clenched around his sword, red eyes glowing with fear 'we are already in trouble, what's the worst it could happen' but the distant shake of his flashlight told his friend he knew there are worse things, the tall boy decided to ignore that, he liked his friend brave, he liked him as a hero.

The tall boy was on his route check when he felt his friend's arm on his chest stopping him mid-step, 'what is it? What's wrong?' The boy asked to which only the friend replied with his forefinger above his lips followed by a tap on his hearing aid signaling his friend to shut up and listen.

The tall boy was trembling now and his friend, his arms still on his chest, could feel it travel through his arms sharing his fear. In a moment of quiet, too quiet you can hear the flap of a leaf 5 meters away. A branch snapped just a meter away, and they both turn their flashlights to their left seeking the sound, meeting a girl, blue eyes raging with rage, black hair slapped to her pale face.

'Boys suck!' She says, slapping the short boy with a hand full of mud, causing him to fall.

'I agree' the tall boy says in a rush, bringing his hands up for surrender, not wanting to meet the same fate as his friend 'in fact..' before he can blink his face is masked with runny mud with such force he can't help but fall back alongside his friend. By the time it took them to remove the dirt off their faces they were met with two guards, appearing to be palace guards from their subscriptions On their coats, 'identify yourselves!' Roared one guard picking them up by their shoulders as swiftly as picking up a load of clothes,

'my name is Arthur Splitzerd, son of Edward Splitzerd, future king of the eastern kingdom', the little prince precedes, only cut off by the second guard's amused chuckle, 'and we have come to give a message to your king' he finishes without a trace of a stumble.

'Why don't you tell us where you are really from boy' responds the other guard, still the trace of a small smile on his face.

'I told you already, I am Arthur Splitzerd, future king of the eastern kingdom, and I have come here to meet with your king, I have a message for him that he wants to hear

'What message?' The first guard responds, with a little trace of curiosity in his voice

'Only for the ears of the king' the boy fights back, staring back at the guard only mere inches away from him.

'go back to your palace, prince' the guard mocks, turning his attention back to the other guard sharing a moment of humor among them,

'but..' the tall boy speaks for the first time, turning the attention back towards them, the two guards meeting eyes with the gleaming red orbs of the little prince, 'as I have said, I need to speak with your king, take me to your king', both listen in silence, before proceeding to bow to the two boys and escorting them through the woods of the west kingdom to seek the king.

'I thought you said no mind control' the friend resorts back to the prince.

'I had to Craig, they weren't listening'

**********

The path to the castle took a lot longer than they had thought, and Craig was growing uneasy with every step. He was worried about his friend, his mind controlling the guards. He was worried about the crazy girl sneaking up on them, throwing mud on their faces again. he was worried about being in a new kingdom, but only knowing the one he guessed every other would be new to him but found no comfort in that. And most importantly he was worried about dying before his first kiss, at thirteen that seemed to matter more.

The little prince was beginning to suspect they were led into a trap when the guards stopped at a bush wall, he noted it to be as big, maybe bigger, than the oak tree he has back at home, so big that at night he would climb to the top and reach for the stars, they would seem so close he thought his tall friend (even if Craig swore he didn't) could reach.

'What is this? I said to take us to the castle' he beckons, eyes glowing brighter than the moon.

'We are, your highness' the first guard proceeds to say, and with the same force as before, he picks them up from the ground, choosing to ignore their screams of horror.

'Put us down!' The little prince bellows, and as soon as he did he feels his feet meet the musky ground again, 'what do you think you are doing?!' He questions pulling his sword out of his satchel, in a swift movement.

'Taking you to the king, your highness' he continues gesturing behind them, to see a castle, only seen in the storybooks their mothers read them before bedtime, the Gothic characters screaming fright to their toes. They felt the courage, whatever they had left, leave with the sight facing them, they saw a black monster in the dark illuminated only by the moon, mouth, and eyes defined by arched windows lit with a small light, pointed domes on the top of every vane with a small flag on top.

'This way' the first guard continued, leading to the entrance of the castle, the two boys looked at each other and followed suit holding hands seeking comfort.

They followed close behind only stopping when the guard put his arm out causing them to stop. 'I will have to carry you again, your highness' the guard explained his hands out as if for a hug.

'Why?' The prince questioned, every guard in his body up. 'This land before us is not land, it's a decoy' he proceeds pointing to the grass 20 meters from the dark castle, seeing their expression he continues 'its the river of infinity, set to trap enemies before they reach the castle, if you fall in, your soul would be trapped by the kelgors of the sea, that feed on the memories of the living soul', having his nod of agreement from the two boys the guard proceeds to pick them us as swiftly as the other times, and with a blink of an eye they find themselves inside the dark castle, dressed in green and black, very much intimidating inside as the outside.

They feel their feet meeting the grounds of the stone pavement floor of the dark monster, 'This way, your highness' the first guard leads along. They look around to see the halls of the castle illuminated by candle sticks below paintings hanging 2 meters from each other, the little prince thought it to be ancestors of the royal family, as he have seen the same back at home.

They stop in front of an arched walkway, masked by dark curtains, that looks to be heavier than his friend the prince noted. The guard pulls the curtains opening the pathway to the two boys, meeting them with a throne room, four thrones standing in front. One big throne, he suspected to be the king, one smaller on the right, and two small thrones on the left side of the king, all empty. The prince looked to the left to see dining tables situated on each side of the room, illuminated with candles on the tables. he realizes a single fact, the entire castle seemed to be lit with candles, which strikes him oddly since the dark kingdom was talked to be the most civilized kingdom of the four kingdoms, but it seemed they have yet to discover the light bulb.

'Wait here while I summon the king, your highness' the guard leaves, bowing on his way out.

'Are these the times our parents talked about?' The tall boy questions looking around the room, 'this looks old!'

'This is odd, I was expecting to see levitating chairs or something', the prince says making his way to the dining table to the right of the throne room 'not this' he finishes tracing his fingers along the wooden table that looks to have seen better days.

'Hey look' his friend bellows from the other side of the room calling the prince over, Pointing to a painting, of what looks like the king, from his gleaming green eyes. sitting atop a black majestic dragon looking to the far left, the king's imperial crown situated neatly on his head, with arches that rise to the center, holding up a green emerald on top.

'That's my father' a voice notes behind them, earning a jump from both of them. They both turn to see a young man with jet dark hair and emerald green gleaming eyes standing a few meters away from them, 'The late king Robert Achilles', the little prince notes the imperial crown, the same one on the picture, situated on the king's head. A sword, three times as big as the little prince's sword, was snatched to the left side of the kings' hips. he was dressed in black, black boots, black trousers, a black shirt, buttoned to the neck, with a dark green cloak masking his presence, like a shadow.

The two friends stare at the western king in awe for a moment before the tall boy breaks the silence with a bow, 'It's an honor to be in your presence, your highness' the boy says, finally deciding the creature in front of them is not a spirit. Which earns him a respectable nod from the king.

Seeing his friend's etiquette, the little prince follows suit, 'It's a pleasure as well' the prince continues reaching for his dagger to his right as he bows 'your highness' the prince' finishes releasing the dagger towards the shadow king's face, causing the king to catch the dagger swiftly a mere inches away.

'we're dead' Craig declares, face flushed with fear, almost as bright as his hair. 'Arthur what did you just do? Why did you throw your dagger at the king?' he bellows at his friend, seeing the stare down between the two royals.

'because he is not the king' his friend says, eyes borrowed at the shadow in front of them, 'They are trying to trick us'.

'what do you mean he is not the king?' the friend almost screams out of frustration, 'look at his crown!' screaming this time.

'exactly!' his friend booms taking a moment to look at his friend standing to his left, the little prince points at the crown in the painting 'It's the same crown' he says turning his attention back at the shadow man in front of them, 'every imperial crown is replaced within 20 years of ruling according to the kingdom principles set centuries ago, but he's wearing the same crown the late king wore 25 years ago. And his sword' he continues, 'it's to his left, Theodore Achilles, king of the west is left-handed, not to mention if he was the king he would have dodged the dagger, not catch it, being able to teleport and all' the prince finishes eyes still situated at the stranger in front of him.

'Well that didn't take long' the shadow man remarks throwing the dagger, hitting the tall boy to his chest and knocking him off his feet, met with horror and shock from the loss of his friend the little prince barely enough time to register, falls to his knees followed by a prick on his neck losing his consciousness.

**********

Olivia wakes up to find herself in a new room, half as big as her room back home, with two beds sitting at opposite ends of one another, stone walls rammed and broken off from what looks like constant beating, floors washed in red, she hopped it wasn't blood, and a single chair, beside the wooden door in front of the beds. She looks around to see her friend lying on the other bed to her right, 'she jumps up from the bed as fast as she could rushing to her friend 'Mk! Mk! Wake up!' she calls in hushed terror, shaking her friend while crouching by the bed, checking the door every second. Mikayla slowly opens her eyes to see Olivia just mere centimeters away from her, face full of terror. Mikayla jumps up from the bed looking around the strange room, assessing their whereabouts.

'Livie, where are we?' Mikayla questions mirroring her friend's terror,

'i don't know Mk' Olivia responds near tears, 'I just woke up too' she continues, picking herself up to sit beside her friend on the bed, eyes still burrowed on the door.

'We have to get out of here' Mikayla declares looking around the small room, 'Before anybody comes looking for us' she says picking herself up from the be., Mikayla starts looking around the room unsure of what she is looking for when she notices a small window on the opposite side of the door, she reaches for the chair to climb and see the other side of the wall, showing her woods stretching for far.

'Look Livie' she calls out to her friend sitting on the bed eyes borrowed to the door, 'This is the outside' she says causing her friend to look at her.

'how can we go out?' the friend asks, 'it's too narrow, we won't fit' she says standing up to join her friend on the chair.

'i know' Mikayla states, both looking out the window to what awaits them, 'but when we do manage to get out, we will know what we will find' she finishes looking at her friend with her hair frizzly and sticking out on every side, fear evident on her eyes, she thought she looked the same, imagining her Afro on one side of her head, after sleeping on it for full night.

'how will we get out?' the friend questions looking back at the door for the fourth time since she came to the window.

'we fight' The brunette declares dropping to the ground, pulling her hair to a top bun, and looking around the room.

'what are you looking for?' Olivia asks following suit with her friend and dropping to the ground.

'Anything to fight with' Mikayla responds flipping the mattress off the two beds,

'wait' Olivia says, resorting to picking up the chair and breaking its legs on the red stone pavement, splattering the wooden chair across the small room.

'good job Livie' Mikayla says continuing to pick up the broken legs across the floor, 'you can use this to defend yourself, the ends are pointy so you can stab whoever comes in here' she says handing the legs to her friend, 'and I will hide to the side of the door there, and I will use the rest of the chair to knock them down' she continues taking the chair out from her friend's hold, 'that will earn us a lot of time to run away' she finishes going to the other side of the room to stand by the door.

Olivia resorts to standing in the middle of the room, the broken piece of the chair in her grip behind her, while her friend stands by the door, chair in her grip in front of her. They both grow quiet, silently staring at each other seeking comfort from one another. After a moment of nothing Mikayla sets the chair to the ground deciding to walk back to her friend when she hears a striking scream coming from the other side of the door. Causing them both to jump in fright situated in their place, a moment later In walks a man with brown locks and a black suit, the small room feeling like a dog house in his presence.

'you' Her friend starts looking at the face of her dance partner in front of her, before the man could reply Mikayla strikes him from the back knocking him down unconscious.

'do you know this guy?' the friend asks looking at her friend, with confusion and anger over their acquaintance lying on the floor.

'i danced with him at my party' Olivia says looking at the man sprawled face first in front of her, 'he was very charming' she finishes looking back at her friend

'they always are' the friend remarks, crouching to get the keys from his hands, 'we should get out of here' she continues proceeding to grab her friend's hand leading them out of the room. The two girls are met with a narrow corridor extending on both sides, with a door (the same as theirs) every 5 meters apart. Mikayla continues locking the man inside the room, trapping him.

'which way do we go?' Mikayla questions her friend, turning to both sides of the mirroring corridor.

'shh, do you hear that?' Olivia turns to the right quietly listening

'hear what?' Mikayla asks turning her ears up to the right, looking for a sound

'Crying' Olivia says and continues sprinting, following the sound. Her friend quietly follows suit barefoot on the stone floors, both carrying their heels on their left and a chair leg on their right.

**********

The little prince jolts awake from his slumber, finding himself inside what looks like a jail cell, he looks around to see his friend sleeping on the other side of the room, his body lying limp facing the wall, his back to him, he slowly walks to his friend, heart aching with each step, flashes of his friends' death coming to his eyes, he stops next to his sleeping friend, reaching his hand out to turn and see the pale and hollow face of his friend, instead is met with the red tear stroked face, his eyes tightly shut, the tall boy refusing to meet the eyes of the figure standing beside him.

'Craig?' the little prince questions in shock and wonder, causing his friend to open his eyes bellowing a scream of terror, 'Craig it's me, it's okay' the little prince says shaking his friend with both grips on his shoulders.

'no you are not, and no it's not' the tall boy responds picking himself up and resorting to the corner of the bed, preceding to cry, head tucked between his legs, 'I saw you die' he finishes burying his head deeper into his legs.

'i saw you die too' the little prince explains standing a meter away from his friend, hands stretched out, 'but that was just an illusion, I saw his eyes turn blue as he shot my dagger towards you, or as he made it look like he threw it towards you' he says looking at his friend huddled away at the corner, seeing no sign of belief he continues, 'we both saw the other die, or as it seems, since we are both alive, he must have used an illusion.' he explains more to himself than his friend now lying by the bed looking away from the little prince. 'That was not the western king, by the looks of his eyes changing to blue from green when he used the illusion, that might have been a southern royal '

'why would the western guards take us to the southern king when you asked them to take us to their king' the friend questions looking back to see the boy, the light from the small window hitting his red hair making his head look on fire.

'Because that was not a guard' the little prince realizes walking around the small room, 'the girl with blue eyes in the woods' he begins looking at his friend earning him a nod, 'she had blue eyes, blue! Red eyes are for the eastern kingdom, green is for the western kingdom, yellow is for the northern kingdom and blue is for..'

'The southern kingdom' his friend finishes standing up now mirroring his friend's expression.

'the underworld' the prince says

'i thought the underworld was destroyed by the war?' Craig questions

'it is, but it's said the civilians and royals migrated to another land' the prince answers, 'it was a rumor though' he finishes turning his head listening to footsteps approaching their cell, eyes burning red.

'that means she was a royal then? But what about the guard, why didn't your mind control work?' Craig asks taking his friend's attention back to him

'yes, only royals have those kinds of eyes' he says eyes gleaming red, seeing his friend's look of concern he continues 'I am thinking the guard was a royal too who changed his appearance to hide his identity from us' seeing his friends expression he continues, 'the southerners are living in hiding I think, and those two guards might be royals masking their appearance to hide, and when they saw my eyes turn they brought us to a makeshift castle pretending to be the guards, to trick us into giving them information'

'how are you sure?'

'because when the guard, or royal, picked us up to teleport, the land was moving not us, so we didn't teleport the castle just moved towards us, it was all an illusion'

'how did he trick you then, royal powers don't work on royals'

'no, king powers don't work on kings, his illusion worked on me because I am a prince, not a king' seeing the look of wary on his friend's face, the little prince continues, 'here I will prove it when we were seven we were at the beach for a school trip but we went away from the group to go to the bathroom and you…' before he continues the tall boy attacks him, causing them to fall to the ground in joyous cries.

'i…thought…you…were…a goner…man' the tall boy says between hiccups, holding his friend tightly.

'me too' the little prince answers hugging his friend back. In their moment of relief, they hear the door click open showing two girls, one with brown eyes and blond hair dropping to her lower back, wearing a red dress falling to the center of her thighs. The other with hazel eyes and dark curly, straped tightly on her head in a bun, was dressed in a purple dress stopping mid-thigh and exposing her dark legs. Both carry their heels and broken chair leg in their hands.

'Who are you?' the blond girl questions the two boys hugging on the floor, 'were you kidnapped too?' she continues seeing their confused expression.

'Who are you?' the little prince questions standing up to face the girls

'my name is Olivia' Olivia says deciding to answer the two boys, 'and she is Mikayla' the blond points to her friend looking out the door, keeping a lookout, 'we were kidnapped too, but we knocked the guy out and locked him in the cellar he kept us in, and now we are getting out of here, come with us we are going home' she finishes extending her hands out to the boys standing in front of her.

The little prince slowly walks to the girl in front of him while his friend tugs at his hands pulling him back, making him look back at his friend nodding at him in silent agreement, causing the friend to let go. The little prince slowly makes his way to the girl but instead places his hands on the side of her head, eyes gleaming with red light.

'okay let's go' the little prince calls back to his friend, stepping back from the blond, hands outstretched 'we can trust them' he finishes looking back at the blond girl.

'Livie we better go' calls out Mikayla looking at her friend who was staring intently at the boy in front of her, 'now' she orders turning her friend's attention to her.

Olivia picks herself up looking at the two boys, 'stay close' she says before following her friend out. She begins turning to the left when the little prince stops her, 'the other way' he says pointing to her right.

'That guy is back there' Mikayla says, while her friend stares intently at the little prince.

'he won't wake up for a while' the little prince responds looking at the brunette, 'trust me' he says, this time eyes boring into Olivia, no longer gleaming.

'0kay let's go that way' Olivia responds looking back at her friend, who looks at her with unmasked confusion.

'i feel a breeze coming from the left, it carried their cries to our direction' Mikayla says earning a glare from the tall boy.

'yes but..' Olivia responds, 'I can smell wet ground coming from this direction, and it looks brighter' she says pointing to the right corridor, 'which means there are an opening' eyes never leaving her friend's, Mikayla stares at her for a moment before nodding to her friend in silent agreement.

The group heads to the right side of the corridor, Olivia in front, the two boys in the middle, and Mikayla at the back, guarding their behind. They quietly pass their cell, careful not to wake the man sprawled on the floor, and reach a turn leading to the right, Olivia stops the boys behind her crouching to the floor, her back planted to the wall, preceding to peak at the wall corner, she quickly comes to her feet signaling the group to follow her and runs to the right, leading them to a door adjourned, showing the outside they saw through that small window.

A meter away from the door, Olivia hears a man sneeze from the other ends of the wall, causing them to freeze.

'bless you' they hear another man say.

Olivia turns to the group in pure horror to see her expression mirrored on them, 'what now?' she mouths, earning her a bewildered look from her friend.

'Hey!' shouts the little prince causing the two guards to peak inside the narrow hallway, coming face to face with the group.

'you little shit' Mikayla swears at the little boy in front of her, eyes trailing at the guards.

'we are passing through' the little prince says, gleaming red eyes burrowed at the guards, 'don't try anything, pretend you don't see us, and the moment we leave your eyes to forget we exist' he orders, causing the two guards to bow their head and return to their original positions.

'what did you do that for?' Mikayla questions stepping in front of the boy, his head stopping at her shoulder.

'to save our life' the little prince says, walking outside followed by his friend.

The two girls followed suit, putting their steaks in front of them waiting for an attack, they watch as the two boys leave the building with no interruptions from the guards. Reaching the door frames they both station on either side of the door, sneaking a peak at both guards standing on the opposite side of the wall.

'come on we need to move' the tall boy bellows from the outside, causing them both to jump in surprise.

The two girls look out to see the two boys waiting for them, hands on their waist looking impatient. Olivia looks at her friend, sharing a nod of agreement before she proceeds to roll out the door, landing a meter away from the guards, the steak positioned at her chest, ready to attack. She stays on the ground for a minute, eyes stationed at the guards seeming not to notice her presence.

'they can't see you' the little prince calls out from behind her,

Olivia stands up from her position slowly heading to the guard on her left, ignoring her friend's warnings, and waves her hands in front of the guard's face, the guard looks far behind her, not seeing Olivia's hand in front of his face just 5 centimeters away. Olivia turns to look to her friend now outside the building seeing the void expression of the guard sharing an expression of worry masked with confusion.

'ACHOO!' the guard sneezes spraying droplets of air onto Olivia's hands, the two girls step back two steps in sync pointing the steak to both guards stationed at both sides of the door.

'allergies?' the other guard questions

'yea, I think it's this new perfume my wife got on' replies the first guard turning to look at his friend, completely missing the two girls two steps away from them, steaks pointed on their chests, ready to strike.

Confused the two girls look behind them to see the two boys looking around warily, 'I will explain everything I promise' the little prince says stepping closer to the girls, 'but now, we have to move, or other guards and royals will come and we will be doomed' he pleads.

Olivia shares a look with her friend and looks back at the prince nodding, agreeing to follow the two boys into the woods moving away from the stone building. The group runs through the woods with the tall boy's lead, navigating through the woods following the trails of 'X' he left on the trees the day before. Until they stop at a clearing beside the sea.

'what should we do now?' Mikayla questions, dropping to the sand to remove her feet from her high heels (the two girls having torn off the heels an hour ago when they left the building) and sinks into the sand resting her feet, sweat streaking down her face. The little prince stands beside the water arms stretched out, looking like Moses trying to split the sea.

'what is he doing?' questions Olivia to the tall boy in front of her, watching his friend intently.

'looking for our boat' he responds eyes sill on his friend. The little prince pulls up his thumb to the group behind him, both arms stretched out, eyes gleaming red, a small boat, with a red sheet as a mainsail, appears before their eyes, rising from the sea.

'let's go' Craig calls out running to his friend struggling to push the boat into the sea, the two girls stand there in shock for a minute, contemplating what they saw, before deciding to help the boys push the boat into the sea. The group pushes the boat climbing in as they go. Once all in Craig pulls on the lines directing the boat to the wind then pulls up the sail dashing through the sea.

'Okay, explain' Mikayla says looking at the two boys sitting opposite her, 'What was all that? Who are you?'

'my name is Arthur Splitzerd, son of Edward Splitzerd, future king of the eastern kingdom' the little prince recites again, 'He is Craig Thoderous, son of Edward Thoderous, Front guard of the eastern kingdom' he finishes pointing to his friend, sitting at the nave of the boat sailing the sea. 'and you two are a long way from home he finishes looking at the two girls sitting in front of him.

'where exactly are we?' Questions Olivia, holding her friend's hand, who looks dizzy and pale, the day's bustle catching up to her.

'if I tell you, you won't believe me' the little prince says holding both his hands out for the girls, 'let me show you' he finishes his eyes burning red. Both girls look at the outstretched hands of the prince in confusion before he continues 'take my hand'.

Olivia reaches out trying to hold on to the little prince's hands when her friend grabs her mid-air stopping her, 'are you crazy? What if he has some kind of a powder thing on his hands to knock us unconscious again' she says in a whisper looking at the palms of the prince, the glare of the sun striking her throbbing head.

'i think I trust him' Olivia explains looking at the little prince in the eyes, 'back there in that building, he was inside my head, and…' she says looking at her friend's sweat-streaked face beside her, 'hey Mk, are you okay?' she questions putting her hand out to touch the burning skin of her friend, 'oh my god, you are burning up' she continues resting Mikayla's head to on her shoulders, pulling her close.

'Livie I don't feel so good' Mikayla explains closing her eyes and falling asleep on her friends' shoulders.

'what's wrong with her?' Olivia eyes the two boys in front of her,

'humans are not acclimatized to our world, coming here puts them in a sleep state, she can only wake up if she drinks from the moon flower' the little prince explains pulling his maroon cloak off his back, covering the girl sleeping on her friend's shoulder.

'do you have that?' Olivia questions desperate eyes staring at the prince, her hands holding on to her friend's body shaking with fear.

The prince looks back to the tall boy sharing the same concern, before deciding to respond, 'The moonflower grows only in one land among all the 4 kingdoms'

'where?' Olivia questions, voice trailing behind the two boys, looking at the land behind them.

'The western kingdom, the land we just escaped from' replies the prince trailing her line of sight to see a man, standing by the clearing looking in their direction.

'We are far he can't reach us, right?' the tall boy questions standing alongside his friend looking at the man stone still in the clearing, if not for his cloak dancing with the wind, he looked like a tree branch left at the center of the clearing.

'he is the king' the little prince answers his eyes still trailing at the man's silhouette, growing smaller by the second, 'he could teleport. But he is not' he finishes looking at his friend.

'why?' Craig questions looking at his friend.

'because he knows we will be back' The girl responds, eyes burrowed on the figure of the shadow king.

**********

'if this world puts humans into a sleeping slumber' questions, Olivia, lightly stroking her friend's head nesting on her lap, 'why am I still awake?' she asks looking at the two boys for answers.

'i don't know' responds the prince looking at the girl, tears silently falling from her eyes leaving trails of black behind them, 'maybe if I can look into your head I can know' he responds kneeling beside her, holding his hands out.

Olivia looks at the sleeping figure of her friend lying on her lap, then back to the hands of the prince before deciding to hold his hands. The prince holds both hands of the girl before his eyes gleam bright red, entering her mind.

Craig starts to count in his head the moment his friend's eyes shone red, indicating that he is using his powers, as all the eyes of the royals do. By the time he reaches a 110 his friend stands up from his position, looking at the girl sitting on the boat, mirroring the shock evident on her face.

'Your highness', he says bowing to the girl, sharing their shock with his friend sitting behind him.

'what are you saying, Arthur?' Craig questions standing up from his seat and joining his friend in a bow.

'she is princess Olivetti Mathedor, daughter of the late king Christopher Mathedor of the northern kingdom' the prince says standing up from his bow and looking at the horrified face of the princess sitting in front of him.