Flame

Chapter 8

Alsi looks straight at the receptionist. Her smile made him feel like every synonym for disturbed. Everyone in the inn is minding their own business, enjoying their dinner. Except for the two guards who were closing in on him. 

      "What do you want from me?"  Alsi asked the receptionist with a serious look in his scarlet eyes.

      "You have been lost for some days now. Your face is almost everywhere the closer one gets to the capital."

      "Why are they looking for me?"

      "What? You didn't know!? Your highness, they are desperately looking for someone to take the throne. The…' she hesitated for a bit,'the young Prince Aod is nowhere to be seen. He might already be dead." She said with a faked empathetic expression. 

      'Hm! No surprise there…' Alsi thought regarding his brother.

      "This kingdom needs its ruler, and now that you're here…"

      Alsi noticed the guards taking stances, they were getting ready to capture him based on his response. It's like they knew that Alsi was sharper than the average kid. Alsi slightly turned his head to the guard behind him. He then looked at the guard next to the receptionist. The atmosphere started to get tense. He recalled the time he overpowered one of his personal guards but he couldn't access that power anytime he wanted. He was well aware of his limitations especially that he was a child. The guards started to sense Alsi's reluctance, it seemed they would be making a move soon.

      "You're right…this kingdom does need its king. But I'm sure you can survive for now." He said.

      Nobody noticed Alsi's hand sparking until he finished his sentence. The guard behind him tried to restrain Alsi as quickly as he could but Alsi's hand went off like a bomb before the guard could even get closer. Black smoke filled the entire inn and the occupants began to panic. The guards started to feel around the smoke screen as they coughed. Alsi took the opportunity to shove the guard and make his escape. When he was outside he couldn't see Tatiana or anyone of the adventurers. He heard the guards shouting for him, as he noticed the attention being drawn to the inn. He turned to his right and found himself by a market. He heard the guards running behind him. The market was dense and there were people everywhere, he found it hard to get through smoothly but he decided to use it to his advantage.

      "Even if I manage to out run them, people will eventually recognise me." He said.

      He blended into the crowd and snatched a cloak from a street vendor's stand. He ran a bit further till he got out of the market area. He took sometime to catch his breath.

      ' Whew! That was close… why do I always have a bad feeling about going back to the palace?'

      Alsi suddenly felt someone grab his shoulder firmly, he panicked and slapped the hand away. Fortunately it was just Enegus.

      "You scared the living crap outta me!" Said Alsi.

      "Where did you run off to? I've been looking everywhere for you. Everyone's worried."

      "That's because…" Alsi stopped himself from giving his usual rude comebacks.

      "Tha- that's because I saw this cool cloak laying in the middle of the road, but when I looked back at where you were all standing…you weren't there." He said with an innocent look in his eyes. He hated making this expression because it reminded him of Aod. He wondered why he felt bad over what he had done even when he basically just knew him for a week. Enegus looked at Alsi's cloak, it was black and had orange patterns on the shoulders and at the ends of the garment. A little too big for his size though.He proceeded to pick Alsi up and put him on his shoulders, Alsi's hoodie covered his face halfway…

      "Hey!" Alsi tried to resist.

      "-chuckles-You can be quite vigorous at times." Said Enegus.

      "Of course! Why would a man like me want to be treated like a child!?"

      "Haha! A man? Luck was right, you are a strange child."

      "Why are you doing this anyway?! You could have just let me walk!"

      "Wasn't it a day ago when you held on to Luck's back like there was no tomorrow?"

      "That was because if I didn't, there wouldn't BE a tomorrow for me!" Said Alsi.

      "If you want a tomorrow, then why are you in such a rush to call yourself a man?"

      "Explaining everything would only hurt your feeble brains, all you have to know is that I'm a man and that's it." 

      Enegus was surprised at Alsi's responses and hints of arrogance. He kept quiet for a while. They walked along a street which was less populated than the other streets. The houses along each side of the road assisted in lighting the way. The lamplights did most of the work however. The air was refreshing as it flew by gently. The water puddles on the pavements distortedly mirrored the moon in the sky. 

      " It was a night like this, when it happened…" Enegus said as he looked at the sky.

      ' Crap…another story to ruin the moment.' Alsi thought. It's like Enegus sensed Alsi's irritance at his talking. He halted his sentence.  But then he continued again…

      "William…"

      "What is it…" Alsi responded.

      " This world we inhabit is full of countless mysteries and wonders. And it's because of these things that there are countless occurrences and events.' Said Enegus. Alsi ended up listening because Enegus' voice demanded too much attention to be ignored. 

      ' My younger brother behaved just like you. He wanted to grow up quickly. But he never got the chance to grow up, or even be a child…"  A silence sunk in as they kept on walking. Then Enegus spoke again,

       "William, enjoy the time you have…even if it's just the insignificant things. If you're young, be young. If you're old, enjoy it, it also has its own benefits ', Alsi started to find what Enegus was saying interesting,

      'if you're laughing, treasure every smile, on a beautiful night like this, treasure the scenery. Because, William, not every clock ticks at the exact same pace, every event has its own unexpected times, you will never know when your time will be up even if it shouldn't be. Anything could happen and if you run after richer things in this world, your clock might stop before you even obtain them. Or You might obtain them, but realise you wasted your time doing so." Alsi found what Enegus said perplexing yet eye opening. He wondered what could have led him to say something like that out of the blue. 

      'Maybe it's because of his kid brother. Something must have happened for him to regret it.'

      Alsi then started to wonder if he will regret what he did to Aod. He doubted it…reluctantly though. However he did find something good in his unexpected speech.  

      ' Maybe I'm being too impatient about returning back to my life of glory. I should use every second I have to its fullest potential instead rushing to every high class inn at the corner. Yeah,besides , they're not ready for me…not yet anyway.'

      Soon Enegus and Alsi arrived at the Inn where the rest of the group were waiting. When they opened the door, Luck was the first guy to rush towards Alsi. He hugged him tightly…

      "You little brat! Where did you disappear to!? You had me worried out of my boots!"

      "Could you stop behaving like some desperate single mother who lost her child at the playground?" Said Alsi.

      "What!? After nearly giving me a heart attack is this how you respond!?"

      "You better know your place you peasant. I respond how ever I want, YOU are the one who has to watch your choice of diction."

      "Diction!? Oh so now you know how to cuss Huh? How long have you been on the streets!?"

      " Since I decided you would be my role model. However that was a horrible decision even for me."

      "YOU-" 

      "That's enough Luck." Tatiana pushed Luck away.

      "William, what happened?"She asked.

      "He got distracted by a cloak he saw laying on the streets." Said Enegus.

      Tatiana just noticed the cloak that was kind of too big for him. She started to observe its texture and design.

      "This cloak, it's really good."

      Alsi then noticed a kind of abomination. He saw two beds and two sleeping bags on the floor next to a fireplace. There was one missing…

     "Ahh…where am I sleeping tonight" asked Alsi.

     "You're going to sleep with us ofcourse." Said Archer.

     Alsi's suspicions were confirmed, he was going to spend another night in completed discomfort, not to mention with a bunch of male adventurers. But wait, there was one spot that seemed to be absent from the disgusting image infront of Alsi of which he was still contemplating. 

      "Well boys, I'll see you tomorrow. I'm going to take a bath then go to bed." She said. 

      "Alright see you tomorrow." They all waved her good night. However, before she could leave the room, she felt a strong tug at her skirt. She looked behind her and noticed Alsi…

      " Oh, William, what seems to be the problem." She asked.

      Alsi looked at her with a tense expression…

      "I want to sleep with you."