The Prince and The Pauper

Chapter 30

They both hurried over to the body. It had a sword by its side, and Lady Shila's dead body was right by it. They had a foreboding feeling of this person's identity.

They approached the corpse.

~.Human POV.~

To Yuma and Akari's relief, more and more people were waking up from their unconscious state. The ratio of dead and alive were getting better and better for each passing minute!

Yuma was holding an oxygen mask to one of the bird's beak as per the instructions of a human paramedic. Soon, the bird came to life. It was a girl hummingbird with a slender body and blue, shimmering feathers. She coughed some.

"Th-thank you," she rasped.

"Hey, thank the people that actually went down there to save you," he said with a smile. "They could have just ignored you."

The hummingbird smiled. "Okay."

Akari was helping nurse the wounded under the instructions of another doctor. This one only had slight burns, so it wasn't that hard to do. Other patients had up to 3rd degree burns, so this one was a lucky one!

As soon as they were done with what they had to do, Yuma and Akari got together under a large oak tree.

"What do you think's taking them?" Yuma asked, twiddling his thumbs.

"I have no idea. Maybe there's just stuff in the way?" the red-haired girl suggested. "Either that or a lot of dead bodies."

What a disgusting thought...

~.Royal POV.~

Black Mist peeked behind Astral. He felt like he was about to throw up due to the stench of all the dead bodies and the fact that they even recognized the body.

Astral stared down in shock. "No..."

"We..." Black Mist couldn't even finish his sentence.

Astral, the braver of the two, knelt down to the still-fresh corpse of his father. "I think...I think I can do something..." He rubbed his hands together, charging static.

"Are you sure?"

"As long as I can get his heart pumping again." Once he was done charging the static, he pressed his palms on his chest. Godith's body jumped, but there was no pulse yet.

They kept doing this for what seemed like forever, Astral's movements getting ever more messier and sloppier due to panic setting in when nothing showed up. There was no pulse when he checked, and the body was getting ever colder.

"M-maybe we should take him up," Black Mist suggested shakily. "They could help..."

"Yes."

The two picked him up by the arms and struggled to get his massive body up through the hole. They finally made it up, where the others from his team gasped.

"What happened?"

"Did the explosion kill him?"

"Duh! What else?"

"Well, you know it could have been that witch."

"Shila?"

"I'm glad she's dead! I saw her fall to King Godith's blade!"

Black Mist and Astral laid down their father carefully. One of the Astral Beings rushed over and took his vital signs, which showed up empty, of course. The siblings watched anxiously as the team of Astral Beings worked to bring back the king, to no avail, of course. They would never say that, though, until they knew that there was no more hope for him.

Yuma and Akari approached Astral and Black Mist slowly, watching the team work on King Godith. They saw his skin turning paler and paler, disappearing with every second that passed. The princes knew what was happening, but they were in denial.

"Does that mean he's dying?" Akari whispered, placing a calming hand on their shoulders.

"O-of course not!" Black Mist shakily argued. "That...that just..."

"There's no need to deny it," Akari sighed. "He looks as good as dead..."

That was when Black Mist broke down. Years of trauma had weakened him. Astral hugged his brother, crying a little himself. Akari and Yuma joined the hug to comfort them.

Short chapter today. AND YOU ALL THOUGHT ASTRAL WAS THE ONE TO DIE!! Pfft! I've done that too many times.