The Book Of The Priestess

9

Philip sat facing towards the bed and watched Ayden's back not move. He wondered if Ayden was asleep, or if he was just laying there pretending to sleep. Once in a while, Philip would poke Ayden's arm with a book. Ayden would always turn around and say something to Philip when he did do that.

"Hey," Philip whispered, "Are you still awake?"

"Yeah. I can't fall asleep when someone next to me keeps bothering me every two minutes to see if I'm awake." Ayden sighed.

"Oh. I feel sorry for whoever that dude is." Philip rolled his shoulders.

"Yeah. You should feel bad for him for tomorrow." Ayden laughed.

"What's happening tomorrow?" Philip blinked once.

"You'll see." Ayden rolled onto his back.

"What'll happen to me? I gotta know!" Philip stood.

"I said, you'll see." Ayden sat up. William barged through the door and was breathing like he just ran a marathon. He drew his sword and pointed it at Philip.

"Prepare.... to die." William began to raise his sword.

"Woah! What are you doing William?" Ayden jumped out of bed and stood between him and Philip.

"I am getting rid of this foe here. Now move. Or I'll have to kill you, too." William narrowed his eyes.

"Fine. Kill me then. You don't have the heart to kill me. Philip is no foe. He has helped me through things. I do not understand why all of you have attacked him. His wounds that have been created by you and your people are beginning to worsen. Anyone who is a foreigner shouldn't be attacked. Why didn't you attack me. Oh, wait. Never mind. You had your men attack me. It doesn't matter. What matters is that lives shouldn't be taken because they seem suspicious. Philip isn't an enemy, for I have seen the future." Ayden began to sway.

"You have seen the future? Is that possible?" Philip asked.

"Yes it is. I'm no ordinary person. I..." Ayden started to fall and Philip did his best to try and catch him. He didn't. Ayden has already fallen to the ground before anyone could move.

"Hurry up. Get him to bed. Help me with," Philip lifted him easily, "...him. Hm? He's lighter than I expected." Philip placed him into the bed.

"What's going on?" William stood next to the bed.

"This has happened to me before. He has stayed too long in this world. He may break down for a while. The only way to heal him, is for him to leave this place for a bit." Philip walked over to the table and began to scan a page in a book.

"How do we get him back up there?" William asked.

"I don't know." Philip said.

"Guys. I'm fine. I just need to rest and be alone for a little bit. I'll be fine once I sleep." Ayden sat up.

"What?! We are not leaving you alo-"

"William, I think it's best to listen to him. He'll be fine on his own," Philip walked towards the door, "if you need anything, just holler." Ayden nodded and they left the room. Silence fell over them.

"I think you have a better chance of sticking by Ayden's side." William closed his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Philip didn't know what William was talking about.

"I mean that, you guys came from the same world, right? You know everything about the place and talk about what happened before you guys came here. I do not know anything about your world or other worlds out there." William looked up into the sky.

"I guess your right." Philip said.

"What?" William looked over at Philip.

"I mean about knowing about our worlds. We do talk about those things, but what brings people closer is not knowing about things. It's about wanting to learn about each other. We are good friends because we learn about each other." Philip said.

"You know, you guys are pretty loud. But I believe that, too. I think- no. I mean, I know I messed up things with Ayden. I'm not sure how to fix it because I still want to learn about him and who he actually is." Kyle jumped off of the roof and landed on the ground.

"You can fix it. It's called be tough and punch him in the arm. Drink with him and have a good laugh. That's what I would do." Philip shrugged.

"Really? It's that easy in your world?" Kyle furrowed his brows.

"No. In this world, that's what you would do. You gotta give Ayden some space. From what I've learned, don't play things off. You gotta actually apologize to him. I don't think you have ever apologized, though." Philip explained.

"Oh." Kyle rubbed the back of his neck. Just then, the door behind them opened. They turned to find Ayden standing there.

"How long have you've been standing there?" William asked.

"Long enough to hear your full conversation. I did not come here to eavesdrop. I came here to tell you that," Ayden took a breath in and let it go, "I'm going back to my world for a little while."

"Why is that?" Philip asked.

"I've seen a part of the future. Nothing good will come out if I stay like this. I'm going back to my world and I will send someone back here, once I find someone worthy enough to take my place." Ayden looked at their faces.

"What? So your just leaving?" Kyle asked.

"I do not plan on coming back anytime soon, so I will leave tomorrow." Ayden said.

"Let me come with you." Philip stepped forward.

"I can not let you come. You must stay here and make sure nobody does anything crazy," Ayden stepped closer to Philip, "especially Kyle."

"Okay." Philip sighed in defeat.

"I'll be going now. Take care." Ayden turned on his heel and began heading back to his room.