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8:40 P.M
-Prince Veldra's Castle-
Cesal wended his way throughout the castle's hallway. The air's flecks were filled with a higher degree of temperature than outside, enough to warm him up after coming back from outdoors. In the back of his mind, the prince's order to meet him in the throne room lingered, but he gave little to no attention to it. He wore a bore rigid expression as he stared ahead at his pathway.
Cesal knew that Omi messed up the plan in his own way, that's the reason he had for why the side of his lip was turning upward in a spasm. He was supposed to lead them to the castle deceivingly, not take out that red head, Zen.
Perhaps he was just too consumed with rage based on the lie Cesal fed him.
Cesal remembered his name clearly and definitely didn't forget how the teen was regarding him as an uncapable person with little strength.
The blue haired boy smirked, his lemony eyes squinted as a glint of iniquity glassed over them.
Oh how he tripped up.
He'll have fun ruining his life.
Cesal made a turn to the throne room and walked in without knocking. Even though the door was wide open, he was supposed to stand by the door and await permission. By the prince's rules. However, this was Cesal.
The nineteen year old royalty could be seen sitting on his throne as he engaged in a consultation with Naomi.
"Yo, future king," Cesal addressed in a inconsiderate way as he looked at the prince straight into his heterochromatic eyes.
No one was better than him. He only made the mistake of switching the crowns because he knew it would raise hell and it was about time the prince thought of something to get his plan over with.
He was looking forward to meeting those so called 'rare species with supernatural powers' from D.I.M 1. Cesal has already faced them head on in their dimension, but now that they were on each other's throats in a dimension he knew well and was in great control of himself in, the whole thing was stirring up his delirium.
The corners of Naomi's mouth pulled down in displeasure and confusion. She looked at the prince to see his reaction.
Veldra's gave his underling a disappointed look, "You're late."
"I don't see E.A?" Cesal looked around.
"I'm right here," A voice spoke out. Cesal looked to his right and saw the creature. Well, he wasn't entirely a creature this time. He was in his human form. He was man around his late twenties with a an unrealistic light blue skin color and black curly hair with an undercut. His body was toned and muscular. Even though he was in his human form, E.A was still in only a pair of shorts, leaving his strong torso to display.
Cesal looked away, not amused in the least bit.
The prince stood up from his throne and made his way to the floor, level with the rest of the people present. He ambled to the door, making everyone wonder why he was leaving so suddenly. No one dared to question him as his tense jaw and lowered brows were in their view of display and they knew he was angered.
"It seems like all of you proved yourselves useless when it comes to a serious plan," The prince reprimanded, "And now, I can't send any of you outside to get my target inside of the castle," Veldra continued, his discontent rising as he came down to his final point, "I'm going to get this done myself."
"But, your majesty—"
"Are you trying to contravene me?" The prince cut E.A's words short. The blue skinned guy's eyes widened and he worked over a couple words hesitantly, fearing to anger the prince further.
"No, I did not intend to at all, your majesty," He gulped.
Veldra dismissed him before he walked out without another word. Naomi and E.A exchanged worried looks. For the young royal to walk into a risk of being recognized outside and exposing himself to potential danger, that caused their hearts to thud heavily. They didn't want the prince to endanger himself in the outskirts of the place.
"This is why Cesal should never be in charge of an important plan," Naomi broke the weighy silence with a snarky remark, watching as the alluring boy looked at her with aversion.
"Shove off, miss, no one needs to hear it," Cesal rolled his eyes. He wanted to kick her so hard and make her kiss the dirt.
"Don't get an attitude, pest. Your 'disrespect the prince because I'm the best and treasured one' privileges are running out. Did you not see how disappointed the prince was with you? Get a hold of your self," Naomi taunted in an unfriendly way. Cesal frowned at that. He took a couple threatening steps towards the long haired girl with a sour expression before slanting his eyes as a smile tugged his lips.
"Don't tell me what to do, and don't act like you know it all, you bitch," Cesal spat.
A vein popped up on the side of her forehead as her lips tightened in anger, "You call me that again and I won't hesitate to fight you."
"Bitch."
"Hey, brats! Don't you dare fight inside the castle. The prince is already furious enough," E.A shouted before Naomi could attack Cesal. They both looked at him, annoyed that they couldn't pull each other's face off and that he also made sense.
"Fine, whatever. I'm going outside. Tell this ugly bitch to stay off my back or I'll kill her," Cesal announced, his mood suddenly dropping from killing intent to fatigue and bored.
E.A nodded slightl then looked at Naomi, "Should we check the security tab?" He suggested.
Naomi was still focused on Cesal's lean figure leaving the room, her arms crossed over the other. She turned to E.A and thought about his request. Well, they would be able to make sure of the prince's safety that way and she could also see a certain someone.
"Of course."
——
The tab glitched for the second try after E.A's second attempt to get it to work. The device was supposed to work since he knew the code to get it to open. He was a bit skeptical though because this was his first time to actually use it. Most times he would just stand by and watch the prince do whatever with the device.
"Do you even know the code?" Naomi huffed.
"Can you be a little more patient?" E.A bit back, because he was only getting started and her impatience was already setting off.
"Well, you can't blame me for being on the edge because this whole castle is littered with security cameras. What if Prince Veldra hears or knows of this?!" She looked around frantically before throwing an arm around E.A's shoulder, "Just hurry up."
"I'm sure his majesty wouldn't jump to conclusions and make a quick judgment. If he actually thinks about it, we're only worried for his well-being. Extra points for being loyal and true hearted underlings," E.A winked at her.
"Sure, but why is Cesal still the one getting the best treatment?" She frowned after smiling for a split second.
"That's history we've only gotta find out ourselves. We wouldn't dream of the prince telling us why, and Cesal is a mind-bending one. I can't figure him out myslef," E.A wondered as he punched in several numbers with his finger on the tab.
"He only has a pretty mouth to run, but the rest of him is garbage," Naomi said, watching as E.A delete some numbers and retyped in different ones.
"Did you just...admit that Cesal is attractive? Do you want me to tell him?" E.A teased as the tab successfully opened, much to their content.
"That's the whole reason why I'm jealous of him. Man, he already knows. Don't think you can get a hold of of me," Naomi rolled her eyes before detaching her arm, "I'm prettier anyways," She flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"Sure, but you're crazy as well," E.A said as a matter of fact.
"Hey, don't say that. I'm in a perfectly fine condition," Naomi shoved him slightly.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's not forget the time you murdered your ex's mom because she was a woman who was close to him," E.A said, bringing in different memories.
"Ugh, don't bring that dead bitch up. I'm sure Kazuo still loves me."
"I'm not even going to comment."
After E.A opened the tab, the screen displayed different sites outside and inside the castle. There was also a search bar to type in the exact locations hey wanted to monitor.
"Where could Prince Veldra be right now?" Naomi wondered out loud.
"My closest guess would be the place our target is," E.A said, "I'm not going to underestimate his majesty, so he's probably already there by now."
"His highness told me that the target was in the public pay phone, next to the tour sites. You know that place that outsiders usually end up in after shifting?" Naomi informed him. E.A looked at her for a moment, trying to recall such a place.
"Oh, yeah," E.A whispered after he got a clear image of the place and typed in the location. One search result popped up and he was quick to click on it. A while later, and they were watching a full screen of a blonde guy who was inside of the public's pay phone. He was speaking to two other figures and one was unconscious.
Naomi put a name to the raven head, who had his back facing the camera, "There he is," She singsonged. They watched the scene go on for a while, awaiting the prince's arrival.
"Who's the unconscious one?" E.A spoke after a moment of silence, an uncanny veneer flourished over his eyes.
"Uh, that's one I've never seen before. I recognize this brat, though," She pointed to Rehan, "He's Rehan, but I don't know who the red head or the rich looking guy is."
"What are you two doing?"
Naomi and E.A turned around to see Cesal standing behind them. There was blood stains coloring the ghostly skin on his cheek and neck and clothes weren't so clean, having his jacket dusted in light dirt, like he was thrown to the floor a couple time in a fight or held against a wall and his slatternly hair proved that he wasn't peacefully walking outside.
"No, what were you doing?" Naomi asked, scanning his disheveled state up and down.
Cesal have her a cold hearted glare, "That's none of your business."
"Did you get in a fight?" E.A asked.
"Well, I was just taking a walk when few street boys were trying to get all romantic on me, thinking I'm a woman, and when I told them that I'm a guy, they said 'no way, not with that waist'," Cesal told him. Naomi snickered quietly causing him to scowl at her.
"And....what did you do?" E.A raised a brow.
"Isn't it obvious? I murdered them," Cesal tilted his head.
E.A blinked.
"Oh, the target," Cesal looked at the screen and moved in closer, "Why's isnt Prince here already? Can't he hurry his slow ass up?"
"Well, that's what we're waiting for. Don't address his highness in such a way," E.A warned, looking at the side of Cesal's face up close, "And go get washed up," He said.
"You go put something on," Cesal countered.
"Hey, who are these people?" Naomi asked, pointing to the unconscious boy and the one dressed in a fancy suit. E.A decided to keep quite and not argue with the blue head when Naomi mentioned the unconscious boy, managing to engage his attention greatly.
"That's Zeno," Cesal pointed to the red head with a slight frown on his face, "And that's Jiryu," He pointed to the fancy suit guy.
"Zeno?" E.A questioned, his eyes glued on the boy, "That's his name?"
"Nah, it's Zen, but you know it's his nickname," Cesal moved away from the screen, "And one last thing, Prince said that you guys should wait outside the castle for when he arrives with the target, so you could kidnap them."
"Why are you not helping?"
"Are you questioning his majesty, miss?" Cesal leaned in towards Naomi with a sly leer as he widened his eyes. Naomi squinted her eyes at him and moved back slightly, trying to not show her discomfort.
Cesal moved back and walked away, "I'm going to shower."
Naomi sighed before she turned to E.A,"And why are you showing so much interest in this Zen guy?" Naomi mocked as she pushed E.A's arm with a smirk on her face.
"Oh look, there's Prince Veldra," E.A said, pointing to the screen.
——
"Do you guys need help?"
Kazuo's neck twisted slightly towards the source of the unknown voice. Rehan looked to see a guy wearing casual clothing approach them. The first thing they noticed was his different colored eyes and his black hair that was fading into white towards the ends.
"I saw you around the corner carrying your injured friend and you seem to be lost," Veldra spoke, his authoritative voice masked with a friendly, but deceitful one.
Kazuo stared at him for a while, not speaking to him for a while.
"Well, he's not injured. Our friend got knocked out unconscious from a...syringe," Rehan explained, not wanting to spill all the details to some stranger.
"A syringe? That means someone put some sort of harmful substance," Veldra told him, "Are you guys outsiders? This is a common trick around here."
"Outsiders? You mean as in, from a different dimension?" Kazuo asked.
"Yeah."
"Yeah, we are. Although, it was our other friend who did it and he's an outsider as well," Rehan scratched his neck.
'Azure. What an idiot,' Veldra thought.
"How long had he been out for?" Veldra questioned, keeping his distance.
"Almost two hours now," Rehan answered, "Does this mean anything?" He gulped.
"That means that normal medical help won't be of much use. I know a good place where you can get him healed. If you didn't know, this dimension is ruled by a kind prince and all citizens have super powers," Veldra explained.
"Super powers?" Jiryu brought out.
"There's a magic system in this dimension and it's very efficient, thanks to the great presiding of Prince Veldra. How did you guys get in here?" The prince payed tribute to himself through this sugarcoated speech.
"Why should we tell you? Or even trust you?" Kazuo said in an instant, cutting the sweet wordings of the strangers short, like a sharp knife slicing a cake. Prince Veldra almost winced the stone, cold tone used towards him by a mere peasant.
"Because it's obvious that you guys have no one to turn to," Veldra tried to suppress a smirk, "You see, I'm just a stranger, but I'm willing to help, aren't I?"
"This is kind of hard, we just got betrayed by a straight-up friend. What's your name?" Rehan asked and Veldra's eye almost twitched when he spotted something close to slight pity on the ash blond's face.
His jaw tensed, but he made sure to not show his anger. This was merely a vermin to his dimension and he had to put up a act for the sole purpose of capturing them.
It was only an act.
Prince Veldra smiled, his mouth parting and exposing his pearly white teeth. He closed his eyes, keeping in mind that he might get caught by this scarlet eyed teen.
After all, the eyes showed a person's true emotion and intention.
"It's Neldo. Neldo Herene."
Kazuo's expression did not change, taking no account of the stranger's display of kindness.
"Where is this place?" Jiryu cautiously asked. Kazuo glanced at the blond, trying to read him. When they got here, Jiryu wasn't being himself.
"It's actually in the prince's castle. There is a special edifice for medical treatment and hospitalization," Veldra put into light, "I can take you guys there."
"Why would there be a hospital in the castle?" Kazuo inquired, not buying Neldo's words.
"Because the prince is considerate enough to build a hospital in his castle for the injured. Like I said, your friend is in a critical condition and can only be helped in the special place. If you don't hurry up, the chances of him surviving won't be high."
Rehan was about to speak when Kazuo beat him to it, "Sorry, but were outsiders. Lovely princes and princess don't exist in our dimension anymore. We have something called the government in the ruling system. Also, we don't know much about Prince Veldra. Have you not considered the fact that we might have a corrupt image of this prince?"
"Corrupt image?" Veldra asked innocently even though he could feel his blood boiling, "Why so?"
"Just because," Kazuo spat.
"Well—um...he means that we don't really know how the Prince is like, you know," Rehan said quickly, not wanting the stranger to get fired up and then for this to turn out bad.
Veldra inhaled, "I have spoken to you guys and throughout my speech, I have mentioned the prince a couple times and it was all prasings to the sky. That should be a great indicator that the prince is infact the opposite of this corrupt image you might have. He's a great person, really."
Kazuo looked at the stranger deep in his eyes, slightly captivated by his heterochromatic eyes. One was pure black, not brown, not dark brown, but black. They looked so empty with no pupil visible in the midst of the dark ocean of black. They were almost scary in a way, but not as nerve wracking as the other one. It was an icy blue. This eye felt like it was filled with deceiving lies that one one should believe, but it had a glimmer of its own, contrasting with the other, empty one. This glimmer was like the sugar that was coating the lies to make them amiable. And together, one on the side of the other, it was an unidentifiable mix.
Kazuo glanced at Rehan then Jiryu. He could see that the both of them were just as hesitant as he was. He groaned lowly, feeling the weight stretching his arms become overwhelming. He put Zen down on the floor and straightened up, looking at the red head's peaceful face. He kind of wished that Zen was awake as well, maybe he would've known what to do.
"We don't know about this," Rehan spoke, "I don't think we can fully trust you yet."
Veldra looked at him. This was Rehan. An individual that acquired his super powers early and had put it to use in D.I.M 1. Veldra looked around for a second.
"Rehan. I tried to lead you guys on safely, without causing you serious harm, but you're very persistent. Funny of you to think I was going to consider your opinions in the first place," Veldra's voice was modulated to its primary version, with noxious intent crystal clear behind it.
Kazuo's eyes widened when he saw him reach for something inside his jacket. Rehan was right infront on the stranger, so he jumped infront of the blond to block whatever was coming. Veldra's eyes flashed with amusement as a smirk stretched over his lips, not blinking once as he fired his gun.
Jiryu's heart dropped as he heard the gunshots. The stranger didn't bother to fire for a second time. Kazuo winced and yelped in pain, his face scrunched in agony. He heard his blood gush out of the side of his stomach, his hand clutched his brutal wound as his knees gave up.
Rehan grabbed Veldra's wrist in a flash and sent a kick to his face, making him stumble back to the side and at that same moment, he grabbed the gun out of his hand and threw it behind him, far enough that if he tried to get it back, he'd have to pass him first.
"You fucker!" Rehan yelled, catching the attention of some by passers, who have already turned their heads to the scene when Kazuo got shot, but seeing the familiar black and white mop of hair and multi colored eyes, it was taken down as a mental note that Prince Veldra was taking care of some business.
"He just kicked the prince in his face!" Someone announced at which more people gathered around with shock over their faces.
Rehan didn't bother to acknowledge the people around him, who were probably looking at him in disgust. He gave no fucks about what they thought. His heart was beating so hard that he felt like it would eventually stop beating and fall into his stomach which was filled with his scorching blood. The anger inside him was scratching his insides crazily. He didn't remember the last time he felt this furious or if it even happened in his life. All he could see was red.
Jiryu was saying something, but he couldn't hear it. All he heard was his mind telling him to bash this bastard's into the ground repeatedly until he bled to his death.
Kazuo was still on his knees. He wasn't out yet, but he was also yelling at Rehan. The blond still couldn't hear. All he could see was Kazuo's blood on the floor and Zen's unconscious body as a reminder of the stomach turning acts of Omi.
That bastard.
Rehan launched forward to the royal when he straightened up, not giving him time to process. He gave him a blow to the face, instantly striking his face backwards. He felt the impact on his knuckles. The pain was agonizing and he didn't think he had ever punched someone this hard before.
The prince's smirk only widened as he pulled his head forward, his hair covering his eyes and it made Rehan shudder. He clenched his fists so hard that they turned white. Rehan spat on the side of the street.
"You disgust me," Rehan's voice was tight as he looked at the prince's shit eating grin. His face was void of any emotion other than amusement, not a single libel managing to brush him.
Veldra walked up to Rehan who visibly tensed at the closeness between them. It was like he lost all sense of danger as anger as good as took over. The prince stared down at him before speaking.
"Good."
——