Past and Present: Intertwined

Chapter 1

Vincenzo's POV

"Beeeeep!"

"Screeeech!"

These are the two sounds I heard before I got fully aware of my surroundings. The one who drove the strange thing in front of me alighted from it, and then he shouted, "The hell! What is wrong with you?"

"I-" I said, trying to reply to his question and explain my situation, but then again I got interrupted by his shout.

"Didn't you know that you're in the middle of a road? Or to be exact in an intersection! Do you have a death wish?! Standing there like a pole? And what is wrong with your outfit? Cosplaying in the middle of a friggin intersection!" he continued babbling things, and some of it I couldn't even understand.

My head started to hurt, hearing his annoying voice as well as the things around me that I had been fully aware of just a few seconds ago. But one thing is in my mind, 'Where am I? And how did this man have the guts to shout at me, the next king in line?!' Thinking of these makes me more irritated.

"Do you have a death wish?" I said in a threatening voice. 

"How dare you, a normal civilian, riding in an unknown thing, talk to me, the crown prince and next in line to be the king, like that!" I said, the pitch of my voice a little higher than before and nearly shouting in the end.

"Aish, Are you dumb? You know, I don't want to talk to you. Just move out of the way!" The man cussed, and then he boarded his transportation, leaving me dumbfounded.

I have no choice but to leave that place he called an 'intersection'. 'I am still too young to die early.' I said in my mind, then I started walking on the roadside, seeing different infrastructures, transportation, and even unfamiliar faces. Many people are looking at me with weird faces saying things inaudibly, and that hits me, my clothes are different from theirs.

Although I am a crown prince and I should be able to socialize, I still got conscious of myself and I hurriedly ran, far from all the whispers and weird looks I get from others. I ended up in an alley and a group of men approached me. Some of them have unusual drawings on their bodies and earrings in different parts of their bodies that I didn't know would be suitable for that. 

They came to me with a malicious smile on their faces. Seeing this, I hurriedly ran thinking that I was so unfortunate that I would even be robbed. I bumped into a woman and I even fell, although it was so unmanly of me, "Help me, please." I said, asking for her help. She took out something from her bag and then showed it to the ones who were running after me. And they hurriedly turned their backs and ran away.

"Thank you so much for helping me," I said giving her a warm smile as a sign of gratitude.

"It's fine. By the way, why are you here?" she asked and I would love to reply but my stomach suddenly started rumbling.

"Oh.. So you're hungry" she said with a light laugh.

Embarrassed, I tried answering, but to no avail, she said, "Let's go inside, I will treat you to a meal."

We went inside the establishment, and she bought me a meal, while I saw her holding a weird pink-purple drink. She is sipping it like there's no tomorrow and it makes an annoying sound. I saw her pay a 500-peso bill, then she directed me to take a seat at one of the tables.

While walking towards the tables, I asked, "What are you drinking?"

"Oh, this? This is a Slurpee" she happily replied.

We sat down and I started eating the unfamiliar food that she bought, then I asked, "What is the current year?".

Startled by my sudden question, she flatly answered, "Today is January 20, and the year is 2024".

"2024?!" I suddenly blurted out, almost choking on the food.

"I want to ask you, who was the royal family in this country in 1924?" I hurriedly asked, wanting to get confirmation of the thoughts that I had formulated in my mind.

"If I'm not wrong, the Cassano family was the monarch at that time," she said as a matter of fact.

I suddenly stood up and my eyes lost focus, then I thought of what happened before I went to this strange place. 'I am now in the future... Exactly a hundred years away from my current time. How did I even end up here?' Having no recollection of the events that brought me here, I stopped thinking for a while, because the woman was making strange and funny faces in front of me.

"Hey, what's with you? Thinking about something so seriously," she asked.

"I am just confused about what was happening..." I replied unsurely.

"By the way, what's with the outfit? Are you a prince?" she asked, then she laughed lightly.

"How did you know that I am a prince?" I eagerly asked.

"Pfft! Did you really believe everything that I said? How in the world will you be a prince? It has been ages since the last dynasty fell and here in our country the current leader is the president." she explained to me while trying to stop herself from laughing.

I sat down again on the chair beside her. Thinking of so many theories of what could have brought me here.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?" she asked, a little worried, she looked at me with concern.

"Wha-" Suddenly, my vision started to become blurry, and then everything went black.