The Prince and The Pauper

Chapter 15

~.Royal POV.~

Astral tried talking sense into his enraged brother. "Black Mist, you know I would never leave you to such a fate," he insisted. "If it were up to me, I would never let you even go near him!"

"Well, why did you let him do that?" Black Mist strengthened the flames. "You know I cannot control it!" He slashed it down on his brother.

Astral brought up his own sword with one hand, blocking it easily. Sparks flew as the electricity and flames battled with each other. "You cannot beat me in sparring. You never could. Just stop and calm down."

"No! How can I calm down when I know you could have prevented all of my hurt!?" He pushed on the blade, making his brother back up slightly. "This is your fault!"

"Blame it on THEM," he retorted, sending more lightning into his sword, and thus winning over the flames. "If they had not killed Mother, your inner darkness would not have awakened."

"I don't care!" He slipped the sword away from their battle of strength. Flames burst out all around them due to his anger. He never could control his flames as well as Astral could control his lightning. "You could have at least helped me control it!"

"That was not something I could help you with." As angry as Black Mist was, Astral was calm. He knew lashing out at his brother would worsen the situation. "I could help you with the flames, but not darkness. That is not something I am familiar with."

This seemed to anger the younger of the two. He roared and thrust his sword in the general area of Astral's heart. "Just die!!" he screamed.

Astral, cool and collected, put up his hand and made a barrier of electricity to block the attack. "I'm afraid I cannot do that. If I die, who will protect you from yourself?"

"Go away and burn!!" The flames started getting closer and closer the angrier he got. "Why the hell are you so calm anyways!?"

Astral let the barrier down and pushed away the sword. "Because you are my brother, and I will do all that I can to protect you." He moved closer and embraced his brother. "I know it may not seem like it in your current state, but I love you more than you know. I try my hardest to keep you safe. Just calm down."

The darkness started to wear off at this point. As usual, Black Mist grew sleepy, his strength to stay away slowly draining. "Really...?" he mumbled. His sword clattered to the ground.

"Truly," Astral whispered.

With that last word, Black Mist fell limp in hos brother's arms. Suddenly, he was taken from him. He just disappeared into thin air. Astral frantically looked for him, but he was nowhere.

"Ah, so frustrating!" Astral hissed. "Why did this happen?" He then noticed the sword. It was still on the floor, forgotten. He picked it up and continued on his way.

~.Human POV.~

Yuma ended up back where he started: the sickening chamber with all the rank bodies. That was the fifteenth time he made it there!

"What the hell!?" he cursed. "I swear I took a different direction each time!"

He huffed and crossed his arms. It didn't seem to matter where he went; he would always end up in this wretched room!

Was there maybe a secret passage in this very room? As much as it disgusted him to rummage around these dead bodies, he had to try.

Yuma slipped his shirt off, leaving his vest on. He tied it around his mouth and nose so that he wouldn't have to smell the stench of decay these bodies were emitting. He got to one of the walls and started feeling along them for any loose bricks or something like that. Maybe a hollow wall or a crack with air flowing through it. Anything like that would suggest that there was a weak link in the walls and maybe a way out.

There was nothing in the walls. His voice muffled through his shirt, Yuma cursed. Maybe there's a trapdoor in the floor? It was worth a shot, so he kneeled down and carefully searched the floor, making sure to steer clear of the dead bodies until he was sure that there was no door on the clear spaces of the floor.

Lucky for him, there was a trapdoor. He grinned and hauled it open with all his strength. Veins in his arms were practically popping out due to the strain!

At last, the door groaned open. Yuma grinned from ear to ear. Who would have thought that they would put a door in this very room? It was genious!

The grin turned into a frown. If they were this smart, they would surely have ingenious traps as well. He would have to be on his guard, and so would Astral.

Speaking of Astral, how was he? Did he manage to get away from the chamber he was in? Did he fall into any traps? As smart as the prince was, these people were probably smarter.

~.THEM.~

Lore watched as the human boy slipped through the trap door with a wolfish grin. "He found his way out, my lady," the German Shepard reported. "Shall I launch them now?"

"No, no, no," she sighed. "Not until he gets to our minotaur. Then, we'll launch the dangerous ones. For now, just keep us entertained with minor traps."

"Yes, my lady. I shall." He kept his paws on the main controller, his large tails swaying back and forth calmly. "Shall I launch it when one of them is there or both?"

"One at a time, Lore." Lady Shila rested her arms on the chair, jutting one hip out. "It'll be fun to see the love birds emotional over one of them dying."

Lore chuckled. "As you wish."

Lady Shila walked away with a sway in her hips toward the cage.

~.Royal POV.~

"Where to now?" Astral mumbled. He had the flame sword in his left hand and his right hand rested on the lightning sword in its scabbard.

He had one ball of light ahead of him to make sure he didn't run into any traps. If one looked hard enough, one could see a thin thread, a loose brick, an unnatural hole in the wall that signaled a possible trap. One would have to hae a keen eye to spot these, though. There were even traps on the ground for the walkers!

Astral swept his gaze around the area for those traps. He had a trained eye for things like this, so he knew what to look for. He didn't bother looking on the ground since he defied gravity. TAKE THAT, GRAVITY!

Alas, not looking on the ground was a mistake. Something, a snake-like thing, shot up and snatched his foot. Astral cried out in surprise as it slammed him to the ground.