Percival
_________
What in the Gods names had I just done?
I stood a short distance away from Erica and Thomas who watched me through narrowed eyes. I sunk to my knees in the middle of of woods, my hands tearing through my hair as I tried to keep myself from having a complete breakdown.
"Try to stay calm, Percival," Thomas peeped up from behind me.
"How the fuck can I?" I snapped at him. "I just...holy fuck...I just abandoned my best friend and Princess Annette...all because I was afraid."
Erica stepped forward, though she seemed hesitant to do so. "There was nothing more you could have done..."
"What the hell are you talking about," I hissed. "How can you say those words when you know they mean nothing? We could have stayed! We could have refused to abandon Ridley and fought beside him."
"P-Prince Vandel would have killed us," Thomas stammered.
"So? Why does it matter? We're knights! We should have fought beside our comrade even in the face of death. We should have been prepared to give our lives to save the princess. But instead, we ran at the first opportunity." I glared at them. "Face it, we're cowards, all three of us. You can hate Ridley all you want for rising up the ranks before you but I can assure you, Ridley would never have abandoned us. Any of us."
Erica and Thomas's gazes fell to the ground and a silence fell over our pathetic, cowering trio. The night air was still, the chirp of the crickets and the gentle brush of the wind the only audible things about us. I wanted to get lost in the night, I wanted it to swallow me whole and make me disappear.
Then, suddenly, the silence was shattered by a voice.
"Hello...is anyone there?"
I jumped to my feet. Erica and Thomas exchanged a wide-eyed glance.
My hand moved to my hilt in case this was a trap before I called out into the night, "Princess Annette?"
"Yes! Sir Percival, is that you!??" And then out of the darkness, like the dream that she was, stepped Annette.
When I saw her, my jaw practically hit the ground. I don't think I had ever been more relieved in my life. I cautiously moved towards her. I had to still be careful. Many horrible things haunted these woods at night, goblins, spirits, even a few shape shifters. Who knew if this was her or if this was some terrifyingly accurate aberration.
I nodded slowly. "Yeah, it's me. Though, the real question is...are you really the princess?"
She crossed her arms, furrowing her cute little brow. "Of course I am."
"What did I get you for your birthday last year?"
"A silver locket with a picture of your face inside which I immediately removed."
Now I finally allowed a wave of relief to sweep over me.
I bowed my head, as did Erica and Thomas. "Princess, what miracle has returned you to us?"
"Ridley and I escaped."
My eyes widened. "Ridley's alive?"
Annette nodded frantically. "Yes! And we kidnapped Vandel as well."
I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Excitedly, I glanced around in the now. "Where are they?"
Annette's shoulders instantly sagged. "We got separated. This mysterious fog appeared and Ridley and I must have walked in different directions. I've been wandering around for hours. I had no idea where I even was. It was pure luck I found you."
"We should get you back to the palace where it's safe," I stated. I offered her my arm but she wouldn't take it.
Instead, she shook her head, stepping back a few paces. "I can't do that. I won't return until we locate Ridley and Vandel."
"But Princess," Erica exclaimed, "the woods are dangerous. They could be anywhere!"
Annette glared at her. "It doesn't matter. Ridley didn't abandon me and I refuse to abandon him-"
That's when we heard a voice from the opposite direction Annette had come from.
"I CAN NOT BELIEVE I FED YOU BREAD YOU ASSWIPE!"
"Oh my Gods," Erica gasped.
All our expressions held a certain look of disbelief. There was no way we could be blessed with this much luck but...that had to be the voice of Ridley. I had never heard him actually yell before but I was sure that the voice could belong to no other.
Without missing a beat, I took off running, racing towards the voice with Annette at my side.
"RIDLEY?" I cried as loudly as I could. "RIDLEY, ARE YOU THERE?"
We emerged into a little clearing and, low and behold...standing there, beside a pile of what appeared to be extremely stylish clothes, was Ridley. I was so relieved, I felt like I was about to cry. I didn't even care if he was angry at me for leaving him.
When Ridley turned and saw me his eyes opened wide. "Percival?"
"Ridley!"
"Percival!"
"RIDLEY!!!!" I ran to him, pulling him into a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry," I choked. "Holy shit...I'm so sorry for leaving you back there. I was just...I was frightened and stupid and I'm just so...so...sorry..."
I felt a gentle pat on my back.
"Don't worry about it. I understand. You're fresh out of training, of course you would panic when threatened by the prince of all evil and darkness."
Yeah, I thought to myself, but you're fresh out of training too and you weren't.
When Ridley and I finally parted, he turned to Annette, bowing.
"I'm sorry, Princess," he said softly. "We ran into a Bone Monster and Vandel managed to escape."
"It's fine. I'm just glad we both made it out of the castle alive...wait...did you say a Bone Monster?"
We were both staring at him in shock. "You fought off a Bone Monster attack and lived?"
He nodded slowly. "Yeah, Vandel helped."
"You got the Demon Prince Vandel to help you?"
Ridley let out a low, nervous laugh, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah, it's a long story. I'll tell you all about it on the way back." He glanced to the clothes. "Oh...and I just have to do one thing." He picked up the pile of clothes and stuffed them into his bag. "I'm taking these in case he tries to come back for them. Maybe I'll burn them when I get home just out of spite." He smiled thinly at that.
I was happy he was back, I really was. But despite that, I still felt a slight prick of jealousy. Ridley didn't seem to ever do a single thing wrong.
It appeared that he had even caught the attention of the Demon Prince of Darkness himself.