New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

"It matters not who I am, for now." The boy replied.

"Lady Anulo has tasked me with helping you break free. But I want an answer first." The boy asked.

Astaroth looked at the boy incredulously. Was this a stratagem? Would his captors pop up after he escaped and re-capture him, before torturing him for trying to escape?

He couldn\'t tell by the boy\'s facial expressions. The only thing he could tell from the boy at all was that he came from a wealthy background since he was richly dressed.

"Can you at least tell me where I am?" Astaroth asked, trying to switch his angle.

The boy looked at him weirdly, like he should know where he was, before answering.

"Do you not know?" He asked, frowning a bit.

"I wouldn\'t ask if I did, buddy." Astaroth asked, a little exasperated.

"You are in the royal holding cells." The boy replied flatly.

"The royal…I\'m back in the palace!?" Astaroth asked, slightly panicking.

"I shouldn\'t be here! Please, if you were sent to help me, do so fast." He added, in a hurry.

"On one condition." The boy said.

"Name it!" Astaroth instantly accepted.

"Tell me why I feel multiple souls from your body." The boy said, his gaze locked on Astaroth\'s eyes.

Astaroth froze for a moment. He really shouldn\'t tell anyone about his powers if he believed what Aberon had told him.

But now he had the choice to either rot in jail and possibly be tortured and killed, or tell the kid and be hunted forever.

His mind raced to find another option, but he couldn\'t think straight until the boy spoke again.

"Usually, only murderers have souls clinging to them. Most often of the people they killed." He said, frowning as he looked at Astaroth.

"And in those cases, the souls are resentful. But that isn\'t your case." He added, peering into Astaroth\'s eyes like he was looking straight at his soul.

"I feel another soul tied to yours, and it seems… at peace? There is also something else." The boy said, tilting his head to the side.

"It looks like… an egg?" He said, half questioningly.

"Kid, I\'m no murderer. I swear." Astaroth tried defending himself.

"Then answer my question." The kid re-stated his condition.

Astaroth still hesitated. There was so much risque at hand here. The soft voice of Alantha Anulo then whispered in his ear.

"It is alright, he is a friend." Astaroth heard softly.

"If you don\'t answer me…" The kid started saying, turning to leave.

"I\'m a Soulmancer!" Astaroth blurted out.

"The soul you feel inside me is my contracted spirit. As for the other, I don\'t know what it is yet." He admitted.

"A Soulmancer… Now I see why father wants you in his possession." The kid said.

That statement baffled Astaroth. He had already guessed why he was in the royal holding cells.

The king wanted something from him. Or maybe he just wanted to stick it to Aberon by killing a friend of his.

He couldn\'t know the exact reason, but those were two guesses that sounded plausible. But now this kid said his father?

"Are you perhaps… A prince?" Astaroth asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

"That would be correct." The boy answered like this situation was entirely normal.

"Then why? Why are you helping me?" Astaroth questioned, his mind falling into confusion.

"I told you already. Lady Anulo asked me to help you." The boy replied.

Sounds then echoed off the walls from afar. It sounded like someone was opening a gate.

The prince\'s eyes widened in fear.

"Quick! Put your hands to the bars!" He ordered Astaroth, getting closer to the cell.

Astaroth did as he was told and soon felt a weight fall off his wrists. The thunk of something hitting the soft ground followed it.

With his hands now free, Astaroth already felt better, but then a voice shouted in his mind.

"Kid! You finally hear me." He heard White Death\'s voice in his head.

"No time to chat! We\'re fusing right now!" Astaroth replied, using his Spirit Melding spell.

The prince watched on in amazement, as Astaroth\'s hair turned white, and some white fur grew on his arms and face.

"Move aside, your highness!" Astaroth said, stretching his leg.

The prince hurriedly stepped away from the front of the cell, as Astaroth kicked on the cell door, sending it flying off its hinges and into the wall in front of it.

"Quick! This way!" The prince then said, pointing in the opposite direction from the footsteps.

The sound of steps quickened after the cell door hit the wall.

\'Aww shucks. We attracted their attention.\' Astaroth thought to himself, before following the boy.

After barely five seconds of running behind him, Astaroth already felt like they wouldn\'t make it at this speed. Suddenly, the prince felt his feet leave the ground, and he gasped in surprise.

Astaroth looked at him from over his shoulder.

"Tell me the directions, I\'ll run for the both of us." He said, before dashing into the hall at much greater speeds.

The prince almost had the wind sucked out of his lungs from the sudden acceleration. He guided Astaroth through the halls at a speed he never would have dreamt of going.

Astaroth had to maneuver the corridors doing acrobatics since his speed was far from normal running speed, and the corridors were not made to accommodate someone running through them.

So he turned most corridors by jumping into them and kicking off walls, sometimes even looping up to the ceiling, to keep up his pace.

He could already tell that the steps were getting further away. He was losing them.

But then he had to come to a sudden halt. The path before him was a dead end!

"Boy! Did you trick me?!" Astaroth asked, turning the prince to face him.

"No! Put me down, quickly!" The prince ordered.

Astaroth dropped him down, and the prince walked to the wall. He started counting the bricks from up to down, and then from left to right.

The prince then slapped a brick on the wall. Nothing happened.

"What now!" Astaroth pressured him.

"This should be the right one!" He said, slapping the same brick again.

Still nothing.

"Step aside!" Astaroth said, before punching the brick with all his might.

The brick barely budged, but it shifted inwards just enough for the two boys to hear a click. The sound of gears started resounding from behind the wall before it caved in and slid to the right.

"A secret passage! Well done, your highness!" Astaroth said, before going to grab the prince again.

"No, leave me! You need to travel alone from here, or they\'ll think you kidnapped me." The prince said, backing up.

"Won\'t you be in trouble for helping me?" Astaroth asked, not wanting to leave the little prince in trouble after he had helped him escape.

"I\'ll just deny it! Now go!" He answered, before using his small arms to push Astaroth into the tunnel.

Once Astaroth was in the tunnel, he turned around.

"Won\'t I get lost in here?" He asked the boy.

"There is only a single path. Follow it and it will lead you to the inner walls. Hurry!" He answered, pushing another brick on the wall.

The wall then started sliding back into place. Astaroth heard the prince wish him good luck and say goodbye before the tunnel entrance was completely sealed.

Astaroth lightly punched the surface before turning around and bolting at full speed. He would not make the prince\'s efforts go to waste.

He ran even faster than before, unburdened by a passenger, and even dropped to all fours at some point. The feeling of running at this speed was exhilarating to him.

He soon saw some light at the end of his tunnel. It did not take long for him to reach there and bolt out into an alley outside the palace walls.

An alarm bell was being rung on the walls, probably alerting his escape. Astaroth undid the melding to regain a less animalistic appearance and grabbed a nearby cloth that was hanging on a clothesline.

He wrapped around his face, trying to cover most of his face. He didn\'t want to get caught just yet, so he had to be low-key right now.

Astaroth kept to the alleys and side roads inside the city, making his way to the city gates. Getting out would not be a simple task, but he had to do it, anyway.

He had to hide from patrols of running soldiers many times as he made his way to the gates. Some even almost caught him occasionally.

Once he was close to the city entrance, what he saw broke his hopes. The portcullis to the outside was closed and guards were everywhere.

His chances of getting out were practically zero now. He silently cursed his fate and the greedy king for wanting to imprison him.

Astaroth walked back deeper into the alley, trying to figure out a plan of action.

"Cmon Astaroth, think. Think!" He said, pacing the back alley.

Then a voice shocked him and froze his blood.

"Hey! You! Turn around slowly, so I can see your face!" The voice said from behind him.

\'Fuck!\' he cursed in his mind.