Prologue: The Battle for The Living Circle

Samson has a nightmare about his past; Turns out Ptolemy had the same nightmare. Who is Ptolemy and why'd he have the same nightmare as Samson?

He awoke that morning at the urging of his personal caregiver, the messenger for the former queen of Charmander. “Your Highness, Her Majesty the former queen of Charmander has requested an audience with you,” he whispered. “She says it’s urgent.”

Azo sat up and rubbed his eyes, “Who is this former queen of Charmander?” he demanded. “And, what does she have to do with me?”

The messenger sighed, “Eight years ago, she sent me here with a note for your father,” he replied. “She wanted you to be able to grow up with him, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to locate him.”

Azo sighed, “Neither have I, but you still haven’t answered my question,” he said. “Who is she? And what does she have to do with me?”

“She’s your mother,” the messenger replied. “She sent me here with you to find your father. She said that if I successfully located him, to give him that note. I never found him.”

Azo recalled the story King Exaephor Smith told him about how he had adopted him. He remembered he told him he found him abandoned in the middle of the City of Aristotle. “So, it was you who left me in the middle of the City of Aristotle,” Azo said. “Why would you do such a thing?”

“I’m sorry, Azo, but I didn’t know what else to do,” his caregiver replied. “I couldn’t find your birth father and I couldn’t take you back to the planet Eros because the doctors were determined to kill you. There was really no where I could’ve taken you, which is why I was so glad when the king of the Golden Twinkle Kingdom adopted you and allowed me to be your personal caregiver.”

Azo sighed, “And, you said my mom has asked to see me?” he asked. “I’m eight years old and all this time I could’ve known I had a mother. Why did it take her so long to contact me?”

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” the messenger for the former queen of Charmander suggested. “Come. I’ll take you to where she is.”

He got dressed and followed the messenger out of his room, careful to not wake Prince Smith and Prince Paradise, and together they departed the Sunshine Palace. The messenger led him out of the Golden Twinkle Kingdom, through the Golden Plains, into the Magical Forest, where they turned left into the Serenity Forest and down a hill. They went through a tunnel and found themselves standing on an island, the Island of Immortality on planet Eros, in front of a cave entrance. The messenger led Azo through the Island and down a path, which led through Slaughter Alley in Slaughterville, a suburb to Charmander. They crossed into Charmander and kept straight until they came to a descending staircase by the east towers of the Thirty Golden Towers of Charmander.

They descended the stairs and continued deep into the heart of planet Eros, right underneath the Thirty Golden Towers, until they came to a large steel door that was bolted from the inside. There were two guards in navy uniform standing in front of the door with their spears crossed in an ‘X’ in front of the door, as though to keep somebody out or something in. The messenger approached the guards and saluted, “Sirs, we are here to see the Great June Zero, former queen of Charmander,” he said, boldly.

The guards nodded, “Go on in,” they said, uncrossing their spears. One of them imputed a key code on the door key pad and the bolts unlocked. “Be careful not to stay too long,” one of the guards warned. “Time travels slower in here than anywhere else on the planet Eros, so a few minutes to an hour in there could be a few months to a year out here. So, be very mindful of your time.”

The guards opened the door and Azo and the messenger stepped inside into a prison. The messenger led Azo to the first cell they came to and bowed, “My Lady, I have him,” he said. “Your Highness, may I present you with your son, the young Mr. Azo. Mr. Azo, may I introduce you to the Great June Zero. She’s your mother.”

June approached the cell door and the lights turned on, revealing her beautiful bronze complexion. She had radiant amber eyes, hair as dark as a raven’s wing, and lips the color of blood. Azo was astonished at her beauty and how closely his own complexion resembled hers. He also recognized that they shared the same cheek bones. She smiled, “Oh, Azo, you’ve finally made it,” she said, her melodious voice ringing in his ears. He didn’t smile back and June could see from his expression he wasn’t happy to see her.

“Why didn’t you contact me earlier?” he demanded, cross. “Why did it take you so long? For so many years, I thought I was an orphan, abandoned in the middle of the City of Aristotle. I’m just now finding out that you’re alive and I could’ve known that my whole life. But, no, you just couldn’t call me could you?”

“Oh, Azo, I’m so sorry,” June said, choking back a sob. “I didn’t mean for any of that to happen to you. Please, believe me when I say that I honestly tried to contact you many times before but I couldn’t get in touch with my messenger. I’m not allowed to leave this place, so I couldn’t come see you myself. Please, forgive me, Azo. Please.”

Azo sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, “So why now? Why did you request to see me now after so many years of silence?” he demanded.

June smiled, “I just wanted for my two favorite boys to be reunited,” she replied.

Azo rolled his eyes, “Right,” he muttered.

June brought out a picture of two baby boys who were almost identical except one was a shade lighter than the other. She showed it to Azo, “My boys,” she sighed. “There’s your brother right there. Don’t y’all look just alike?”

Azo took the picture and studied it in shock, “Am I a twin?” he asked, mesmerized.

June nodded, “Yes, baby,” she said. “You are. Y’all were separated from birth because the doctors wanted so badly to dispose of y’all. Well, actually they wanted to kill you but they couldn’t so I waited until they left and I hid y’all. They questioned me but I refused to tell them where y’all were so they imprisoned me here. I sent you both with my messenger to the planet Xerox but my messenger reported back to me that your brother had been kidnapped on his way there.”

Azo’s expression softened a little when he discovered the reason his mother didn’t contact him earlier. “How long do you have here?” he asked.

“Until I make bail or until my sentence is up, whichever happens first,” June replied. “I was given life here so I can’t be there to watch y’all grow up. I’m so sorry Azo.”

Azo pondered that for a while before speaking again, “Do you know where my brother is?” he asked her.

To his surprise, June shook her head, “I was hoping you could track him down for me,” she sighed. “Take the sword your grandfather made. It shall guide you to him. Oh, and Azo, in case you lose the sword, take this picture so you’ll know him when you see him. Just look for a boy who looks just like you, but a shade lighter.”

June folded the picture in half and tore it down the middle. She gave him the half with the lighter skinned baby who looked identical to him. Azo left with the messenger and they returned the way they came. The guards unlocked the door at their request and commented that they had been in there for ten months, so they assumed they were dead.

Azo followed the messenger up the staircase, back to the surface of Eros in the kingdom of Charmander, and towards the Thirty Golden Towers. “So, where is the sword my grandfather made?” Azo asked.

“The sword is in the center tower of the Thirty Golden Towers,” the messenger replied. “Follow me, I’ll show you to where it is.”

He led Azo through the east towers and in between the north and south towers of the Thirty Golden Towers until they came to a tower that was much bigger than the others. It rose until its top was lost in the clouds. The messenger led Azo through the entrance and into the quiet halls. Everything his eyes could see was gold and as he and the messenger approached the dais, he realized that they were standing inside a throne room. It had two thrones and in between those thrones, on a gold pedestal on the dais, was a gold and silver sword with a ruby and sapphire hilt and scabbard. On the blade and the scabbard, written in Erosian, were two prophecies: one for Azo and the other for someone named Asus. Azo was only able to make out some of it because he was raised on planet Xerox with no knowledge of the Erosian language.

The messenger stopped at the lowest level of the dais and faced Azo, “This is the sword your grandfather made, fused with DNA of his next heir or heirs,” he said. “This is the throne room of the Great June Zero but she was dethroned, so she can no longer be queen. This sword was forged with a magic that reacts with the DNA of the Great March’s next heir or heirs. June wielded this sword for a while before she got pregnant. Once the sword detected you and your brother’s presences, it split into two swords to accommodate the both of you. That is why it is dual colored and has two prophecies on its blade. You two are destined to rule over Charmander one day. Take the sword, Azo. It shall lead you to your twin brother.”

Azo approached the dais and reached for the sword. He hesitated, “How will it lead me to my twin brother?” he asked. “I still don’t fully understand the situation.”

The messenger sighed, “Because this sword reacts to the DNA of the Great March’s next heir or heirs, the two swords’ energies act like a map, guiding the carrier to the energy of the sword’s other half,” he replied. “Only one of you can carry it but you can’t wield it by yourself. Only you and your twin can wield it in this form. It is two swords but it can only be separated in the presence of your twin, when the situation permits, meaning he must be receptive of the sword and its energy.”

Azo gripped the ruby sapphire hilt and pried it from the gold pedestal. He put it inside the ruby sapphire scabbard and strapped the scabbard to his hip, with the help of the messenger. He unsheathed the sword and studied its silver and gold finish for a while before dark images flashed across the blade. He saw the hospital where he and his brother were born and what the doctors tried to do to them there.

He gasped when he saw how they handled his mother when she refused to tell them where they were. As he continued to watch the moving images, of the messenger fleeing with them both, he caught a glimpse of who took his twin brother. It was one of the doctors from the hospital they were born in and he was placed in an orphanage in Slaughterville where he was tormented until he was finally adopted. Azo continued to watch in horror as his new folks did even worse than the orphanage. He closed his eyes and sheathed the sword.

“What did you see?” the messenger asked him, noticing the look on his face.

Azo looked at him but didn’t answer. He took a few steps forward and sighed, “Let’s just get out of here,” he said, ghastly. They departed the throne room and kept north through the north towers of the Thirty Golden Towers until they finally found themselves back in Charmander. He turned left and started going back the way they came into Charmander. They went into Slaughterville and passed by Slaughter Alley.

“Mr. Azo, where are we going?” the messenger asked, uneasily as they passed by several gun stores and liquor stores.

Azo didn’t answer. He wanted to see what this orphanage was and why they had done what they did to his twin brother. He finally found what seemed to be the only orphanage in Slaughterville, the Slaughterville Children’s Home. It was an old brick flat with an old playground out front with slides and swings and a tree house. He was surprise it was still in operation. With the way it looked, he felt that it should’ve gone out of business years ago. They actually keep children here? Azo thought. He followed the sounds of children playing until he finally made it to the back of the old brick flat, where a much larger playground was. He saw two adults he suspected were the headmasters.

He turned to the messenger, “Do you trust me?” he asked him.

“Y-yes, Your Highness, I do,” the messenger replied. “Um, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to find my brother,” Azo replied.

“Yes, but why would he be here?” the messenger asked.

“He was here, but he was adopted,” Azo replied. “I want to know what they did to him here, who adopted him and when they adopted him.”

“I don’t know if it’ll be safe for you,” the messenger said. “You’re just a child.”

“I thought you said you trusted me,” Azo snapped.

The messenger gulped and kneeled so that he was eyelevel with Azo, “Alright, if you must, then go,” he said, choking back a sob, “I will miss you.”

Azo sighed exasperated, “I’ll be back,” he assured him. The messenger gave him a hug and watched Azo as he went towards the two adults there with the children. He didn’t know what they were saying but he watched in horror as they dragged Azo inside the brick flat and closed the door. He fought the urge to go after him, after all he had said he trusted him.

Meanwhile, inside the Slaughterville Children’s Home, the two adults Jim and Manny dragged Azo into their office. He heard them say something about readmitting him into their orphanage. Inside their office, Azo saw a lot of pictures of children, some of them younger than him and others older than him. He scanned the pictures until he found one that closely resembled his brother’s. He held the baby picture his mother had given him up next to it and noted the similarities. Underneath the picture, the boy’s age was listed: he was just eight years old when he was adopted. He ripped the picture off the wall and turned it over.

“Asus, June 22nd, adopted by a Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Thorn,” he read. He folded the picture up and faced one of the headmasters who had just come in.

“So, little guy, where are your folks, eh?” he asked him in that annoying baby talk.

I hate it when people do that, Azo thought, glaring at him.

“My folks are on planet Xerox,” he said.

“Oh, an alien baby,” the guy said. “We’ve never had one of those before.”

He reached for him, but Azo ducked and rolled out the door just as the other headmaster came in. He rushed down the hall and out the front door as the headmasters rushed after him.  He found the messenger still standing outside by the playground and grabbed his hand, “Run!” he said as he dragged him deeper into Slaughterville.

They passed two schools and a hospital, stopping to catch their breath behind a police station. Once they were sure the coast was clear, Azo reached into his pocket and brought out the picture he snatched off the wall of the Slaughterville Children’s Home. He turned it over and saw the address of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Thorn listed under their names, “They’re not too far from here,” he gasped.

He grabbed the messenger’s hand and together they left from behind the police station and went deeper into Slaughterville, passing by an old post office and gas station before finally making it to their first residence. They scaled the line of houses until they came to one that matched the address supplied for Mr. and Mrs. Thorn. Azo approached the front door and peeked in through the window to see if anyone was home.

The house looked very old and abandoned, so it was very hard for Azo to believe that anyone lived there. It didn’t look like anyone had lived there for a while. He knocked on the door but there was no answer. He knocked again, but there was still no answer. He went around to the backyard, where he discovered a young boy, who looked almost exactly like him, harvesting corn all by himself.

The sword felt warmer near his hip and Azo unsheathed it. He saw the writing on its blade was a red orange and the silver and gold finish of the sword shimmered in the light of the setting sun. An image flashed across the blade, there was a mighty battle and lots of people died. He sheathed the sword and started forward. He made it halfway to where the young boy was but he stopped when he saw a man come outside with an extension cord. “Didn’t I tell you to get those dishes washed, boy?” he asked, striking him with the cord.

The boy cried out, “I’m sorry, Papa!” he sobbed.

Azo cringed as the man whipped the boy harder. The boy ran into the house crying and the man grabbed the wheelbarrows of corn. The messenger tugged on Azo’s arm, “Mr. Azo, I think we should go now,” he said.

Azo snatched his arm from the messenger’s grasp, “No, that man has my brother in there,” he said. “I’m going to get him out.” He trudged towards the man with the wheelbarrows of corn.

“But, Mr. Azo,” the messenger called after him.

“Excuse me,” Azo called to the man with the wheelbarrows of corn.

The man glared at him, his face twitching with his rage, “I thought I told you to go inside and wash those damn dishes!” he growled as he raised his extension cord to strike him.

Azo grabbed the extension cord and tossed it onto the ground. The man raised his hand to strike just as the young boy who looked almost exactly like him came back outside. “Papa, I---” he stopped when he saw who the man was talking to.

The man gasped, “Boy, what is this game you’re playing with me?” he demanded. “You’re gonna get a beaten if you don’t explain.”

“Let me explain,” Azo spoke up, “That’s my brother. We’re twins.”

The man’s eye twitched as he stomped towards the young boy who looked almost exactly like Azo. The boy flinched as the man raised his hand to strike him, “Papa, I swear I don’t know him!” the boy screamed as the man slapped him. He slammed the door and beat the boy harder as Azo ran inside through the front door. He pried the man off him and grabbed the boy, running off with him. They went to the police station but later discovered it was closed down. The messenger led them back to Charmander and they went to the police station there.

Azo and the messenger both explained what they had witnessed, and together with the police, Azo and the messenger freed the young boy, who they later found out was Asus, from the Mr. Samuel Thorn of Slaughterville. Asus was placed in an orphanage in Charmander and under a close watch by the Police Force of Charmander. For five years, Azo and the messenger visited with Asus, until he was discovered missing. Apparently, Mr. Samuel Thorn escaped prison and kidnapped Asus, making him his slave again.

Azo and the messenger spent the remaining five years searching for him, along with the Police Force of Charmander. They reported him missing and posted flyers of him everywhere but it didn’t help since Azo and Asus looked just alike. People assumed he was already found. It took a while for Azo to explain that he was looking for his twin. They even searched that house in Slaughterville for him, but to no avail.

After years of searching, they finally found him in Slaughter Alley hanging with a group of guys that looked to be up to no good. They were very drunk and one of them suggested they do something very wild and freeing. “I know, I’ve got just the thing,” Asus drunkenly said. “How about we rob a bank?”

“No, I want to do something that we’re not supposed to do,” one of the other guys said. “I want to steal The Living Circle.”

“Taylor, are you crazy?” Asus replied. “She’s sacred. No one can touch her.”

“We’re not gonna touch her,” Taylor insisted. “We’ll just lead her someplace.”

“No,” Asus said. “I won’t do it.”

“What? You’re dissing us?” Taylor snapped.

“Look, if you want to steal The Living Circle, go ahead, but forgive me if I don’t go with you,” Asus retorted. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go get some more rum.”

Taylor and the rest of the guys blocked his path, “You’re not going anywhere, Asus,” Taylor said. “Now, you’re coming with us.”

“What’cha gonna do to me if I don’t?” Asus demanded.

Taylor punched Asus, knocking him unconscious and grabbed his forehead. He forced his intentions into his mind so that Asus finally agreed to go with Taylor and the others out of the Alley. Azo hid behind the trash cans so that they couldn’t see him. He followed them into Charmander where he watched in horror as they tricked The Living Circle near the entrance into The Quietus. The Quietus trapped her with its waves as she struggled to break free, screaming some incantation in Erosian as Taylor and the rest of the guys ran away laughing.

The control Taylor had over Asus’s mind wore off and Asus regained consciousness. He noticed the atmosphere of Eros had been poisoned and he turned to Taylor, “What have you done?” he demanded.

“What have I done?” Taylor demanded. “Don’t you mean what have you done, Asus? You should be ashamed of yourself, jeopardizing a poor innocent life like The Living Circle.”

Asus gasped, “You’re blaming me for that?” he asked.

Taylor laughed, “After all, your fingerprints are on the carcass,” he said. He gave Asus a bottle of rum, “Here’s your rum.”

Asus snatched the bottle from him and guzzled it down. He immediately felt dizzy and began to lose his balance, “What have you done…to the rum?” he asked.

Taylor laughed then he and the other guys led Asus back towards Slaughterville. Azo followed them and cornered Asus in Slaughter Alley, “Hello, Asus,” he said. “Remember me?”

Asus peered at him, curiously. His vision began to get blurry and he started seeing two of him. Once his vision came back into focus, he gasped, “Dear me, is that a mirror?” he asked and then he lost consciousness.

“My apologies, he’s totally out of it, sir,” Taylor said. “You have to excuse him.”

Azo took Asus into his arms and carried him away from Slaughter Alley. He cradled him in his arms as his messenger sat down next to them. Azo looked over at him, “It’s coming,” he said. “The biggest battle we’ve ever seen. It’s near, even at the doors. I can feel it. I know there’s something I must do, and to do it, I have to die.”

The messenger looked over at Azo, “Now, don’t go talking like that,” he chided. “You’re not going to die. Not as long as I can help it.”

“But, it has to happen,” Azo insisted. “In order to save Asus, I must die.”

“Say no more,” the messenger snapped.

Azo trickled some water into Asus’s mouth and took an ice pack from the First Aid Kit the messenger had brought him. He wrapped it in a cloth and pressed it against Asus’s forehead. He stayed with him until the morning when he awoke with a massive headache. He groaned, “Ow, my head,” he muttered. “What happened last night?”

“You got drunk and murdered The Living Circle,” a voice very similar to his replied.

Asus blinked and his vision came back into focus. And he beheld a man who looked like him standing over him. He held his hand out to him, “Here, take this. It shall ease your headache,” he said.

Asus stood and glared at him, “For five years I waited for you,” he said. “What happened to you? If you had’ve been here for me, you could’ve protected me.”

Azo sighed, “What you did last night was not my fault,” he said. “Besides, we searched for you everywhere on the planet Eros. We asked around, we reported you missing, we even searched the house in Slaughterville where we found you the first time, but we found you nowhere. I was just able to locate you in the Slaughter Alley last night. I didn’t know it would take me this long.”

Asus guzzled the glass of water Azo gave him and shook his head, “I may not remember all that happened last night but I do know it wasn’t all my fault,” he snapped. “The last thing I remember was Taylor and I were arguing. He was angry at me for not agreeing to his plan to steal The Living Circle. I left to go get some more rum when he blocked my path. He refused to let me go unless I agreed to go with him. I don’t remember anything after that. When I came back to my senses, the atmosphere to planet Eros was poisoned. Taylor said that it was my fault because my fingerprints were on The Living Circle’s carcass. Then he handed me a bottle of rum and I don’t remember anything else after drinking it. I don’t even remember murdering The Living Circle so how dare you accuse me of that?”

Azo sighed, “I’m sorry Asus,” he said.

Asus shook his head, “You can keep your sorry, because you’re a sorry excuse for a brother,” he snapped. “I needed you and you weren’t there for me. When Samuel Thorn kidnapped me, I screamed for you but you never came for me. So why don’t you do what you do best: leave me alone.”

“Asus, please,” Azo pleaded. “Don’t be that way. Let’s begin again, just you and me. It can be us against the world, just like old times.”

“No, it’s just me against the world now,” Asus grumbled.

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Azo said. “You could come with me and we could be a family.”

“A family?” Asus demanded, cross.

“Yes, a family,” Azo replied. “I can introduce you to your new father and we can be a family again just like we were five years ago.”

“My new father?” Asus growled. “Do you have any idea what my father has done to me? Why would I want a new father? I don’t even like my current one!”

“Asus, why don’t you come with me and see?” Azo suggested. “You might be pleasantly surprised.”

“Why don’t you leave me the hell alone?” Asus snapped. “You’ve already done enough damage!”

“Asus, please, just listen to me---”

“I said go away!” Asus shouted, shoving Azo with such force that he knocked the messenger into the side of a nearby building. The impact busted the messenger’s head wide open and he died instantly. Asus’s rage boiled over, causing his shadow to disappear. Azo departed from Asus’s presence and Asus chased him through Slaughter Alley until they made it to the path that led to the Island of Immortality. As Asus chased him, he lost control of his shadow, which destroyed a large chunk of the cities on planet Eros, shattering the planet’s defenses, and poisoning the atmosphere even more.

He continued to chase Azo through the tunnel that led back to the Serenity Forest on planet Xerox. Azo fled through the Golden Plains, crossing back into the Golden Twinkle Kingdom. As Asus chased Azo through the kingdom, he destroyed a large number of buildings. He stole weapons from the closest weapon store and faced Azo. Prince Smith departed the Sunshine Palace and met with Azo, “Hey, where have you been?” he asked. “And what happened to the kingdom?”

Asus grabbed Azo and choked him. “Prince Smith, now is not the time,” Azo gagged. Asus tossed him into the side of the Sunshine Palace and raised his weapon to strike. Prince Smith ordered the Golden Twinkle Kingdom to prepare for war. Taylor and the rest of his group met with Asus in the Golden Twinkle Kingdom and together they kidnapped some of the citizens in the kingdom.

The Golden Twinkle Kingdom Warriors threw every attack they could think of at Asus but everyone who attacked him instantly died. Azo, along with the king of the Golden Twinkle Kingdom, hid those Asus didn’t kidnap in a safe house just outside the Golden Twinkle Kingdom. Azo returned to the battle field to find that his entire army was wiped out.

“Ptolemy, you must kill him,” King Exaephor Smith insisted. “You must. He is destroying everything and everyone. Pretty soon there will be nothing left of planet Xerox.”

“I can’t kill him,” Azo insisted. “He’s my brother.”

“Don’t get sentimental on me, Ptolemy,” King Exaephor Smith ordered. “You are my general, so do as I say.” He handed Azo a gun filled with special bullets. These bullets would kill a Xeroxian instantly and they wouldn’t be able to bring themselves back to life. They would also kill an Erosian and they wouldn’t be able to reincarnate.

Azo studied the gun for a while, “I can’t…I can’t accept this,” he said.

“You have no choice,” King Exaephor Smith said. “Now, do it and that’s an order.”

King Exaephor Smith returned to the safe house while Azo faced Asus. He saw that his body was surrounded by a suspicious darkness and it seemed to be melting away into it. He steadied his breathing as the darkness slowly consumed his beloved brother. He put down the gun King Exaephor Smith had given him and picked up one of the guns from the hands of his fallen army.

He cocked it and pointed it at Asus’s chest. He couldn’t stop his hands from shaking and the tears wouldn’t stop falling from his eyes. I foresaw this in the dark images from Infinite Blade, he thought. I know I must save my brother from his shadow and to do that, I have to die. He wiped his eyes and took a deep breath as the darkness continued to surround Asus, and just before the darkness consumed the last of him, he gasped, “I’m so sorry, Asus,” he sobbed. He pulled the trigger and Asus crumbled to the ground, clutching his chest. The darkness no longer surrounded him and he breathed his last.

Meanwhile, Azo felt like his insides were on fire and like every cell in him was exploding over and over again. He groaned in anguish, trying to ignore the pain, but instead it got worse. Prince Smith met him just as the pain became unbearable. Azo felt like he was dying over and over again and the pain only got worse with every passing second. Prince Smith and the rest of his siblings tried everything they could to ease his pain but to no avail. Since the situation was hopeless, they left him inside a sound-proof room where he suffered alone until Asus was reincarnated into another life.

Ptolemy awoke, drenched in sweat, “Samson!” he shouted.

Prince Smith stirred groggily, “Ptolemy, what is it this time?” he asked, sleepily.

Ptolemy threw the covers off him and went to their walk-in closet, “I must go check on him,” he said as he grabbed his dark garb and mask.

Prince Smith chuckled and sat up. He turned on the lamp near his bed and rubbed his eyes, “This obsession you have with Samson is a little unhealthy, don’t you think?” he asked as he stretched and yawned.

Ptolemy glared at him, “You’re one to talk,” he snapped. “What about your obsession with Prince Paradise?”

Prince Smith blushed as Ptolemy stormed into the bathroom to change. Ptolemy returned from the bathroom wearing the dark garb and the mask. He grabbed Infinite Blade, the sword his grandfather made, and strapped it to his hip. He put on his black boots and departed the Sunshine Palace for the village Fruits and Berries. He scaled Samson and Maqsedeth’s house and peered through Samson’s window just as he was explaining to Maqsedeth the nightmare he had.

Samson wouldn’t meet Maqsedeth’s eyes and he was leaning over like he was ready to throw up, “I can’t explain it,” he said, strangled. “It was almost like I was there. My whole body was melting away into a darkness that seemed to be consuming me. My whole essence was dissolving into that darkness and my consciousness as well. It was almost like this darkness was a part of me, and I a part of it. There was also a man, a man who looked just like me. He was holding a gun at my chest but he looked like he couldn’t bring himself to shoot me, like he didn’t want to. He eventually shot me but before he did, he said something I would never be able to shake from my mind.”

Ptolemy’s eyes widened when he described his dream, “Oh no,” he whispered.

“Samson, what did he say?” Maqsedeth demanded. “What did the man who looked just like you say?”

Samson drew in a shrill breath, “He said, I’m so sorry Asus,” he said, shakily.

Ptolemy climbed to the balcony of their house and fumbled in his pockets for his cell phone as Maqsedeth gasped, “Oh no,” he said.

“What’s wrong?” Samson asked him.

“Samson, look at me, you have to put that dream out of your mind,” Maqsedeth demanded. Just then, the phone in the parlor began to ring. Maqsedeth and Samson sat in silence, listening as the phone rang again. Maqsedeth left Samson’s bedroom and went into the parlor as the phone rang a third time.

He picked up, “Hello?” he said.

“Hello, Mr. Maqsedeth,” a voice very similar to Samson’s voice said.

“It’s you,” Maqsedeth said. “Why are you calling?”

“I’m calling because we have to talk now,” he replied. “Meet me behind your house. It’s urgent.”

The line went dead on the other end and all Maqsedeth could hear was a dial tone. He hung up the phone and went downstairs into the Foyer. He departed the house and went into his backyard where he discovered a man in a dark garb about the same height as Samson. “So, what’s wrong?” Maqsedeth demanded.

The man sighed, “I was eavesdropping on your conversation earlier and I regret to say that the description Samson gave for his dream was very similar to my dream,” he replied. “So, until I can figure out what’s going on, I’ll need you to try to keep Samson calm. I know you already know what happens when he isn’t calm. You were there and saw it for yourself.”

Maqsedeth nodded, gravely, recalling the Battle for The Living Circle and all that occurred. “I’ll do my best to keep him calm,” he sighed. “But, you know how inquisitive he can become.”

The man nodded, “I know,” he sighed. “Just keep him under control, will you do that for me?”

Maqsedeth nodded, “Yes,” he said as he headed back into the house.

Author's Note

In order to keep up with most of this story, The Dark Lands (book four), I advise you to read The Petrifying Woods (book three).