I'm No Prince

Challenge + The Seas of Reflection

"You're on," Andrew announced.

**10 minutes later**

"Okay, gentlemen," Jason began, "the rules are simple; you each have three lives, and must play as a character you have never practiced with before. The first one to lose all three lives is, obviously, the loser. I shall be the referee for this match, and will announce to your audience, our lovely ragamuffins. Capiche, you two?"

Harry sighed at Jason's showmanship, but he agreed to the rules. Andrew sighed too, only he was sighing at Jason's ridiculousness. However, he also decided to agree to the rules. They were fair, after all, and besides, it would be pretty fun.

"Sure, I don't see any issues," Andrew said to Jason, nodding.

****

As Andrew searched the roster of characters for one he felt at least decently confident with, he listened to Eric and Marten whispering recommendations to Harry. Kirby, Bowser, Dr. Mario -Andrew was confused at that point-, even Zelda/Sheik was mentioned. That caught Andrew's attention; he'd never really practiced with Zelda/Sheik before, however, he'd messed around once in a match against Kelsey, who typically chose that character as her default one.

Andrew chose Zelda/Sheik, and set the lead to Sheik, hoping that would help him start the game out fairly strong. It was, after all, the strategy he'd seen Kelsey use the most often, so it had to mean something, he assumed.

"And there we have it, folks!" Jason announced, "our Andrew has chosen Sheik/Zelda!"

Jason started fooling around on the couch he'd commandeered for himself, doing a weird dance that caused the other boys to laugh at him. Jason was really weird sometimes. Andrew really didn't know how Harry's social status at school hadn't dropped when he'd started being friends with him and Jason, really.

Soon enough, however, Jason stopped making himself the butt of every joke, in order to announce Harry's choice of character.

"And Harry Terrace is the proud player," Jason began, "of the one and only... NESS!"

The room was silent after that, because everyone knew that Harry was the worst Ness player in the entire room. Andrew was confused, too, because if Harry was following the rules, that meant that he had chosen to play as his worst character on purpose. That definitely didn't hurt Andrew's pride at all.

"Ready, Drew?" Harry asked, "don't think I'll go easy on you, even if I'm at a major disadvantage here."

Andrew grinned, "I wouldn't expect anything less than your best, old pal."

"And with that," Jason yelled in a dramatic voice, "let the games, BEGIN!"

**after the match**

Andrew did not win. He'd done his very best with the character he'd chosen, but he hadn't been keeping to Kelsey's strategies as well as she'd likely want him to when playing her character. He'd shied away from using Sheik early on, and focused on playing Zelda, who he felt much more comfortable with.

"Hey, Drew," Harry pulled Andrew aside after the match, "you played pretty well, but wouldn't you have been better off staying with Sheik than with Zelda? I mean, by no means is she a bad character, but in the circumstances of this match, I mean."

"Technically," Andrew replied, "yeah. I guess I just felt better playing Zelda, it was more... Personal, I guess?"

Andrew wondered at that to himself. Why was he more connected to that character? He honestly could say with confidence that he felt more connected with her than with his usual character, it was really strange. Almost as if something about her was important to him, or if he felt better known when he played her. This was very confusing, and it was late, so he should probably head home, but Harry was looking at Andrew strangely.

"You felt more personally connected to Princess Zelda than to Sheik?" Harry whispered to him, "you realize that if any of the other guys knew about that, they'd make fun of you, right? That concept is generally something strange to them in their minds. I'll keep this a secret for you, but please, if you ever figure out who you are, or whatever it is you've been trying to do these past few months, Drew... Just let me know, okay? I've been worried about you lately, and it feels like even you're confused when it comes to the ways you genuinely feel. Be careful, and keep me in the loop, will you?"

"Uh," Andrew replied once more, "sure, I guess. I'm really not sure what I'd be able to update you on though... I don't really know anything about myself anymore Harry. But I'm going to keep trying, and I'll do my best to let you know how that turns out for me. I can't promise I'll immediately tell you everything I've been feeling lately, but I can promise to talk to you if anything happens and I do really need it. I haven't had anyone offer or suggest that yet, so that would be kind of nice, maybe. Would that work for you?"

Harry nodded, and smiled, "good. I just want to make sure one of my best friends is okay. stay safe on the way home, okay Drew? I hope this all works out, somehow, so good luck bud."

Andrew thanked Harry and left the party, feeling almost more confused than he had before he'd come. This party had created a load of confusion and facts for him to sort out later, considering Harry's offer, and the strange feeling he'd had when he'd played his new character tonight. Andrew drove home in a subdued state, knowing he probably wasn't going to be getting much sleep.

What was wrong with him? Andrew wasn't quite certain why he was so unsure of who he was. He felt he should know something this important, even if he didn't see any evidence to support that fact. After all, it should be simple; Andrew was Andrew, he was the youngest child in his family, not much considering he only had one sister, but he was still the youngest and only boy. He should be a protector, or a leader. His mom used to say he was a little prince. That should be who he was. Andrew thought on this, and wondered, asking himself a very odd question; did he know if he even wanted to be a prince?