Flame

Chapter 2

Alsi looked the purple girl in the eyes, and she stared him right back.

    "Me?...cease to exist? Hah! Good luck with that!" Said Alsi.

    "From where I stand you have no right to say that at a moment like this." Replied the purple girl. 

    " I'm too amazing to 'not exist', even you know that…it's why you're here."

    "No, I'm here because if I don't fix this mess, I'm gonna be in huge trouble."

     "What do you mean?" He asked. She gave him the same irritated look and explained…

     "Here's the thing, you're not supposed to be in the body you're in… and the owner of that body has prematurely reincarnated into the body you're supposed to possess." She said.

     "So you're telling me that the experience I had was another life?"

     "What else do you think it was?"

     "I don't know… I thought I just fell asleep!" He said.The girl took a big sigh and spoke again…

     "Oh well, so the problem here is that before people reincarnate, they lose every connection to their old life, that includes their memories."

     " Which means I still share a connection to my old life if I have my memories."

     "That's right, you're irritating but atleast your brain is just as quick."

     "Ofcourse, I should basically be up here being worshipped by everyone-"

     "DON'T PUSH IT…" The girl gave him a discretional expression. Alsi simply looked upwards.

     (Someone's got a temper…) He thought.

     "Anyways… the problem here is that you still have your memories, and that caused a complete mix up with the transition of souls…how that happened isn't really important. Right now I have to fix this without the other deities knowing about it."

    "And how is that going to happen?" He asked. 

   "Well there's no returning the owner of the body you're in…but if you don't become fully synchronized with your new body, you'll keep coming back to this place and oneday you might never come back, you'll slowly fade away into nonexistence."

   "Then why aren't you fixing this now instead of blabbering around…" he said.

   "There are some rules you'll have to follow if I help you, and I need to make sure you know what's at stake if you break them."

   "Ok let's get over with it, I'm getting tired of being lectured by some little girl…" He said. The purple girl looked at him and thought…

    (The arrogance this guy has!)

   "Well for starters,what's your name?" She said, 

   " I'm Anjoh Kamado-"

   "No, forget that name, it's the biggest connection you can have to your old life. Don't ever say it, don't ever write it down, don't even think about it. Otherwise you'll be back here again."

   "Okay, is that it?" He asked. The girl faced down and stroked her chin, she then replied…

   "You know what, don't mind the name thing, I'll take care of it. All you have to make sure to do is NEVER, EVER, visit the temples of the deity Euth. You shouldn't be in possession of anything to do with him. He is a good guy but can be too straightlaced. If he senses your misplaced soul, he WILL do away with you. That's all you have to know."

   " Alright, just get me outta here." He whined.

   "Trust me, I don't want you here any longer either…" she closed her eyes and stretched out her hands as if to give something out. Suddenly, a purple glowing cube manifested out of nowhere.  It seemed as if a whole galaxy was contained within it. When she opened her eyes they glowed the same color as the cube and she began to speak…

   " You are Alsi Amaris, that will be the new identity of your soul as you return to your new life, understood. "She said.

   "Are you gonna stand there or get me outta here!?" 

   " Goodbye, and have a good life…" With those words she sent the cube floating towards Alsi. It made contact with his chest and penetrated through him. When this happened, Alsi felt an immense pain that he had never felt before. His body seemed like it started to become white light and by the time he opened his mouth to scream, everything went white and no voice came forth. When he regained his vision, he found himself in front of the water fountain outside his room. The cherry blossoms fall gently around the garden. He noticed his mouth was still open. When he looked at his reflection in the water he found the same young boy staring back at him. When he saw his deep scarlet eyes he confirmed he still had memories of his past life, all he couldn't remember was his name. He kept on looking at his reflection for a while and then he finally spoke to himself…

    " That brat! She didn't tell me it'd be painful!...oh well, better get going." He went off in the direction of his room. A week soon passed by since Alsi was reincarnated and he was enjoying his new life. It turns out Alsi was the first born son in a family that ruled over a kingdom called Amaris. He was next in line to be king and the people of the kingdom adored him. He even had a few slaves he could play with and they'd have to do whatever he told them.

     (Huh! Guess I was just destined for greatness, I'm rich in my old life and even richer in my new life! With all the intelligence I possess, I could take over the world right now!)

     He thought to himself as he sat in the hotsprings on the palace grounds. His little brother was frolicking around in the water.

    (Hmmm…now that I think of it, I haven't been outside the palace yet. I'd like to see what this new world is like.) He looked over at his brother who kept swimming around the place…

     (He can be very useful, I could make him my prodigy…who knows, he might even surpass me….) Alsi laughed quietly at the thought. His younger brother noticed and asked… 

   "What are you laughing at, Alsi?"

   "Nothing Aod, I was thinking, do you want to come with me outside of the palace?" 

    " To do what?" Aod asked

    " To explore, aren't you bored of hanging out in the palace all day? Let's try something different today." 

    Aod was loud but timid, he would never show any restraint in his comfort zone. However, he acted more introverted in foreign areas. Even so, he always craved something to keep him occupied. 

    " Ok, but do you think mother and father will allow it?" He said.

    "Just sit your idiot butt down and leave it to me Aod, I'll know what to do." Alsi reassured him. The Amaris palace was made up of many rooms and hallways, someone would find themselves lost if not careful. Alsi usually had his servant guide him through the blue hallways and large doors just so he could get around the place. This place was huge compared to the mansion he lived in during his previous life. On the way to his parents room he met his father. His father was a tall, muscular man with blonde hair. His eyes were almost a dark blue.

     "Well if it isn't my flame headed boy, what can I do for you this morning. " he spoke.

    " I want to go outside." He said in a demanding tone.

    "Well if you want to go play outside there's nothing stopping yo-"

    "No, you bird brain! I meant outside the palace!" Alsi demanded. His servant was quiet suprised at the way he spoke to his father. His father let out a laugh and then spoke…

    "No, son. You're too young, wait till you're old enough to defend yourself and your younger brother-"

    "There's no way you're gonna expect me to defend myself when other people can do it for me. I mean it's what they're paid for. Just have the guards ecsort us and we'll be just fine." He said.

    His father thought about it for a bit, then he finally said…

    "Alright you can leave the palace, however I expect you back by sunset."

    " I wouldn't hold my breath!" Said Alsi as he walked away, his servant hurrying after him. In about an hour later, Alsi, Aod and four guards wearing a black and red uniform were roaming through the streets of Ari. The vendors shouted loudly in the market place and children were running around. The city had six pillars surrounding it which served for defence. Alsi guessed that there might be marksmen by the pillars and a couple of ground soldiers. Alsi then looked at one of the guards, he had a long beard…

    "Hey goat face! You must have grown up here, what usually goes on around this place?" He asked.

    "Well not much really, it's just basically everything you're seeing now." The guard replied.  Aod was mesmerized at the experience, his older brother saw nothing but boredom. 

    "Agh! So you're  telling me…that there's nothing interesting that ever goes on round here!?"

    "Well-yes master. Sorry to disappoint. "

    "You're all pathetic!"

    "Oh come on big brother, don't be mean…" said Aod.

    "Hey now, I'm just being honest." Said Alsi.

    " Wait, don't some members of the adventurers' guild have bouts most of the time?" Asked the second guard. Alsi's ears clicked…

   " Wait, did you just say 'adventurers guild'?" He asked the guard.

   "Yes master, there's supposed to be one to the east of this city." The guard replied. 

   "Well then what are you idiots waiting for, hurry up and take me there!" The guards obeyed and they hurriedly carried Alsi and his younger brother off to the east. In about 40 minutes they arrived at a large building. The top had what seemed like two swords facing opposite eachother and a shield beneath them. However that's not where they were going, they bypassed the place and went ahead for a little bit more. They reached an open ground surrounded by a crowd that kept cheering and booing. 

   "Get me a good view!" Alsi said as he lifted his head. (Adventurers' Guild!? It sounds like those stupid games the dorks in my class are always talking about…)

    "Get out of the way! The princes of Ari have arrived!" Yelled the guard. People cleared as soon as they heard those words. What Alsi saw was shocking, almost unbelievable to his eyes. Aod was excited but he didn't seem to share Alsi's shock. He saw two fighters in pieces of armour in the middle of the wide open ground, however,this was no normal battle. The fighters seemed to emit energy which was somewhat similar to that of the purple girl he encountered. One of them was a red haired older man and had an eye patch whilst the other one was younger and he had brown boots, black bottoms and a white shirt. He had a green cloak as well. The older man proceeded to throw a series of quick jabs coated in fire, which ended up being dodged effortlessly by the other fighter. The cloaked fighter countered by deflecting his attack and returning with an uppercut which hit with enough power to lift the eye patched man off of his feet. However that wasn't it, the cloaked fighter threw a punch straight at the man's gut which sent him a distance to hit the ground. When the eye patched man got up, he became enraged and began to emit more energy. 

    "You bastard! You'll pay for that!" The man sent a ball of fire with those words, however, the cloaked fighter manifested a shield made of earth and blocked the ball of flames. The man began to repeatedly throw balls of fire at his opponent. The cloaked fighter closed the distance, using the shield to block the attacks. The eye patched man saw this and decided to concentrate his energy into his fist in an attempt to break the earthen shield. However, his effort is wasted when he throws his mighty punch. The cloaked fighter finds himself in the air. The earthen shield he manifested coats his right hand as the eye patched man is left vulnerable. The man in the air strikes his opponent on the ground, digging his stone fist into the face of his opponent. The eye patched man tumbles to the ground and crashes into a bunch of barrels. The crowd is in mixed emotions, others are surprised, some are dismayed at losing their bets, while the lucky ones celebrate their win. Alsi can't believe what he just saw. He never thought he'd be this excited about something the class nerds wouldn't shut up about. Aod was already cheering for the cloaked fighter who refused to show his face. The cloaked fighter didn't seem to be excited about his victory, to Alsi, he actually looked quiet disturbed. Alsi wondered why, when he noticed the fighter eyeing him with a deep gaze. Their eyes met and Alsi became confused…

   (Huh? Why is he looking at me like that?....What's going on??)