Ever since the Little Prince woke up later that day, they had been preparing for their trip, and neither of them was thrilled about.
They both spent the 1st on their own. They refused to acknowledge the existence of one another and prepared on their own.
The Princess visited both of them, one by one. She mocked them for being so insolent that ‘it was almost as if they were deliberately trying to anger their mother just for the fun of it.’
She was shooed away, and both times she had thrown a tantrum about the indecency of a princess being ousted. The servants spent a conjoint half an hour trying to bribe, lull or otherwise mollify the princess.
The night of the 1st was a night both princes fought delirium. They had strange nightmares of their experiences with their mother the day prior. The Little Prince could not elude the sharp pain in his chest that woke him up from the delirious nightmares he suffered. The High Prince in contrast kept meeting the Knight. It would sometimes appear as a minuscule figure, sometimes it was his height and sometimes a grand monument silently judging. It was as if his dreams had not belonged to him and the spotlight was always this lifeless, lowly form of pure Essence. The knight was amorphous in his dreams and it made the High Prince ponder if that was the case outside of his dreams.
The High Prince could not make heads or tails of his dreams. Could the spotlight be amorphous as well? Had the knight meant something to him subconsciously? Had the knight done something to him? But wouldn't that have caused fluctuations in Essence in the physician's office? He should have known if that were to happen. Then why?
The Little Prince was the first to act against the imminent delirium that had haunted them to the point of sleep depravity. The first action he took was to go knocking on his brother's door in search of mutual understanding. It probably hadn't mattered to him whether the High Prince had similar experiences. He sought to be comforted because of the unnerving pain in his chest.
The door had not been answered.
Therefore, they spent the first half of the 2nd on their own. They had ordered the kitchen staff around to prepare for their departure ahead of time. They collected specially tailored clothes the servants sewed for them. These clothes were made through formal clothing being recycled as they assumed they would have no use for those in the wilderness. The Little Prince, however, kept a few ‘just in case.’
He made a second attempt to reconcile with his brother but received no answer. While returning to his room in defeat, they came across in the hallways by coincidence.
“Oh, Jim,” he said happily, “I've been looking for you!”
“What do you want?” the High Prince shrugged him off.
“As exilees, I thought it would be beneficial to plan our next move to increase our chances of survival.”
“What, too scared to stand on your own two feet?”
“Oh come on. Neither of us had to fend for ourselves in the wilderness, we don't know how. Me and you both. What's wrong with learning together.”
“Why would I care?” the High Prince shrugged. He pushed the Little Prince aside and continued his stride. “I'm already kinda pissed I gotta walk for so long, I don't need your blabberin’ on top of all that.”
“At least tell me your plan!” he counterargued. “Where are you going to go?”
“What's it to ya, huh? Don't tell me you're planning on following me.”
The Little Prince started strolling next to the High Prince to continue the conversation. “Well, I won't come if you don't want me to, I'm just kind of indecisive about where to set my destination.”
“Classic John.”
“Okay? And where are you planning to go?”
“To the Shenfú Islands,” the High Prince replied aggressively, “there, you have your answer, now go away.”
“Huh? Shenfú? Why?”
“Because,” the High Prince sighed with impatience, “it's the only place I don't gotta skip over continents for.”
“So you're just too lazy to go to the Federation?”
“Obviously it'd be nice to see Cryptid tech right where they are created, ‘cuz the ones we have here are pretty limited, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna bother passing through Oceania to reach the Federation mainland.”
“Well, yes, the ocean is certainly an issue…” he pondered pessimisticly, “Oh, but we can visit the Jumping Island on the way! I'm sure taking a break from the sea would be a boon to our morale, and maybe we can even make some Ghost friends!”
“Even with the waypoint the ocean is still vast. If we are going all the way there might as well become an inhabitant.”
“Well, the Shenfú Islands aren't a small place either. You would probably have to spend more time traversing through water if you settle there.”
“For fuck sake, John. I can just live on some of the ones closest to the mainland.”
“But mom said we should travel, didn't she? Why are you so eager to settle?”
“She's trying to soften it up by saying we can do the same, you dumb fuck,” the High Prince said with a low voice. He spoke as his eyes scanned his surroundings, “Do you think she'll let us back in even if we brought her souvenirs as she had done to her own mother? Not to mention we're clearly not even considered eligible to ascend the throne, unlike her.”
“I think it's worth a try,” the Little Prince said nonchalantly, “it does sound fun.”
“Great, then you do that,” the High Prince quipped with mock excitement. He shook his hands left and right beside his head as a likewise pseudo-celebration. He stopped in front of his room's door as they arrived while talking, and added, “I don't really wanna do that, though.”
“Why not just do it together? Travel around Khevreg, I mean. Having someone watch your back while you travel might be best…or that's what I read in a book, at least.”
“Probably, but having you watch my back,” he said as he pointed at the Little Prince, “is probably less secure than doing it myself.”
“But—”
“No means no,” the High Prince hissed, “now fuck off, I'm gonna prepare.” He slammed the door in his younger brother's face.
Met with defeat, the Little Prince returned to his room to re-strategise. He made his preparations and slept early.
The High Prince woke up before the moon had started its descent down the horizon. He was determined not to let any Knight kick his door and usurp him (from his bed). He was so determined, in fact, that he gave a speech regarding how tenacious and perseverant he was to a fictitious and insubstantial audience.
His inane speech had served zilch purpose beyond a waste of time that could have been spent sleeping to better prepare. Despite this fact he was probably aware of, he had not seemed perturbed by it. He had a damfoolish smile as he got ready to possibly never return to his homeland ever again.
He hied to the kitchen and stuffed whatever food prepared for him into a pouch, filled a flask with water and so on.
The Little Prince did the same, although they did not communicate with each other even as they walked side by side through the kitchen. Once at the farmost edge of the palace garden, they waited for a mage to function as an elevator.
“I wish we knew what happened to Bobathan,” the Little Prince mulled out loud, “we wouldn't have to wait here idly.”
He had not received a reply, which made him change his approach. He called his brother out more directly:
“It would be more fun that way, too, right?”
“You didn't look like you were having fun last time around.”
“Still, though…”
A massive platform of rock stopped its ascent aligned with the palace's land. “My condolences for the wait,” the woman apologised, “Please, get on. I will take you down.”
“And you are?” asked the High Prince superciliously.
“Oh, I am merely an Elemental sent by the military as per the Empress’ command,” she spoke with a grand smile, “I was also one of the Elementals regulating airflow in the council meeting the other day. If that helps.”
“No, can't remember you,” the High Prince blurted.
“Come on, let's go,” the Little Prince addressed his brother, “No need to make a scene here. The sooner we go, the better.”
The High Prince sighed with an unamused expression. He stepped on the pillar of tremendous size.
The woman moved her right hand with her palm facing heavenwards 180 degrees. Once her palm had been turned towards the ground, she moved her hand from chest level to her waist. With this motion, the pillar started moving down towards the ground.
This pillar was just dirt. However, it was not just dirt, but the element of earth itself. It was not a few particles of dirt levitating, no; this was an Elemental's power. She manipulated the ground to protrude upward for as long as she wanted. Essentially, it sped up nature's development immensely through the use of Essence. It is akin to Bone Meal, although Essence is much more effective.
This gigantic pillar a part of the ground moved downward until it entirely emerged with the ground and evanesced.
The woman specialising in the manipulation of the four elements saluted the princes and wished them luck on their journey. Nothing happened after, as the princes walked away, although the Little Prince found it strange that despite standing still as if saying goodbye, the woman had disappeared when he looked back. It was almost as if the ground had split open and she fell inside.
The first rays of sunshine were visible by the time they came knocking on the Esterk household's door. Bobathan answered the door, and much to his surprise, it was the two princes.
“Hello…” he said shyly as he rubbed the back of his head. “It's strange… Why are you two here? The sun's back up.”
“I came to say goodbye,” the princes spoke in unison. Bobathan snickered when they stared at each other, then looked in the opposite direction.
They summarised what happened in the palace. Bobathan's laughter died down and his face was filled with regret and sorrow for the sad news his friends brought.
“Well…” he spoke hesitantly. “If I had known sooner, I would've prepared, or something… It's going to be real lonely without you two…”
“Huh?! All that and you're not even gotta curse her for sending us away?”
Bobathan shook his head vigorously. “Nuhuh! You may not know ‘cuz you're royalty and all, but the Empress has eyes everywhere. I wouldn't badmouth her even in my inner monologue.”
“Inner what now?”
“Surely you know what that is, Jim. Words that are so common is where the common in Commonspeak comes from.”
“Of course I fucking know what that is, I was talking about why he even has one.”
“What, so you never talk to yourself?” Bobathan japed.
“What kinda creep does that? Of course not.”
“Don't lie, Jim,” the Little Prince guffawed along with Bobathan, “everyone does that to some extent. That's called a thought process.”
“Talking to yourself is different though!”
“No, it is not.”
“Yes it fuckin’ is?”
Once the conversation became stale post-argument, Bobathan asked curiously, “Soooo… where are you two going?”
“To Shenfú,” the High Prince answered.
“To the Federation,” the Little prince answered.
“Woah, woah, calm down, one at a time,” Bobathan smiled, “but… huh? You're not going together?”
“Mr. Cantankerous here,” the Little Prince pointed at the High Prince, “refused to.”
“Why?”
“He's annoying.”
“That's it?!”
“Yeah, so?!”
“That's so dumb, though!” Bobathan mocked.
“You want another beating or what?!”
And so, they had their last bit of fun together. When the sun had set fully, however, they knew they did not have a choice.
Hence, the princes departed. Both from Hjelmstad and each other.
The only ones that watched them walk into the sunset were the eyes of the Empress imbued in the barrier of Hjelmstad.
They were both alone.
They will be alone... once they travel far enough to split paths, anyway.
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