"YIIIINNNGGJJIIIEE!!!!" Lei yelled from the center of the hall. He waited for her diligently as she exited her room.
"Sorry Lei!" She said. "I'm ready now!"
As she regrouped with Lei, she was greeted one again by Prince, Hansel, and Ivan.
"Thank you so much for letting us stay! We will not forget this!" Yingjie said in French.
"Amazing!" Ivan remarked. "When did you learn that?"
"She wanted you to hear how thankful she was from the bottom of her heart! Also she was very found of your teacher Prince, she wanted to give him a gift."
Lei disappeared from sight darting into a room to retrieve Princes present. When he came back, he waddled into the room with a giant metal box.
"Go ahead and open it!" Yingjie said as Lei put it at Princes feet.
Leaning over, Prince swiftly undid the packaging, lifting the red ribbons that were tied around the box. As he opened the lid a gleam of light was reflected into his eye from a shining piece of metal.
"YIngjie..." Prince exclaimed. "This is.... incredible"
"Wow," Ivan thought. "I don't think I've ever seen Prince… impressed?"
Prince lifted up a gold plated helmet with a dark cloth that covered the front. There was a single space at the top right that seemed to serve as an eye hole.
"Is this a custom made helmet? I've never seen anything like it!" Prince remarked.
"It was going to be a present for my brother but screw him! Apparently it was a damaged helmet by a man my father fought. He had it repaired and gave it to me as a souvenir."
"I don't know what to say? What was the name of the knight who wore this?"
"I believe his name was Machiavelli," Yingjie said.
Prince froze shaken by the name.
"First the book and now this… just who is this Machiavelli?" He thought.
"Well don't be a stranger put it on!" Yingjie said laughing.
"Very well," Prince said, adjusting the helmet on his head.
As soon as the helmet touched his head, Prince felt a tug on the edge of his shoulders. All of a sudden his body became extremely heavy and the helmet seemed to stretch across his body. A series of golden plates aligned themselves on his body dragging themselves down to his feet, encasing his body in metal. When finally he peered through his helmet to see what had happened. He found his entire body encased in armor.
"Incredible!" Ivan said remarking at the armor.
"Ying, was this supposed to happen?" Lei said.
"I guess this was more than just some normal helmet, its a relic isn't it?" She asked Lei.
"Relic?" Prince asked Pedro. "What are they talking about?"
"Unlike artefacts that serve multiple purposes, Relics are one use objects that do not consume your soul to use. They are incredibly rare, even more so than artefacts." Pedro answered
"I see…" Prince said.
"Wait does that mean that Prince is related to this… Machiavelli person? Is he a noble? What is going on?" Ivan asked.
"I don't know…" Ying answered. "I only know the man my father fought was not Machiavelli, as to who that person is you'd have to ask my father."
"Ying" Prince said. "How do I turn this relic off? This helmet could serve me well without the armor."
"Say the words release, and that should do it." Lei said.
"Release." Prince said. The armor retracted, going back into Prince's helmet.
"Well that was quite the spectacle, but we really must be going!" Lei said.
"That's right!" Ying said. "My brother is probably pacing back and forth at the castle! We have to make it there before nightfall! Please write to me! I'll never forget what you said!" Ying said.
"I will," Prince said, nodding his head. "Don't give up, I know you can do it."
After Prince finished his sentence the room froze. It was like a lightning bolt had landed in the center of the room. No one had said or seen anything and yet, everyone was still in the uncanny silence. Somehow the presence of something big and massive loomed over everyone's heads, as if they had all been caught in a giant spider web, and were about to be devoured.
"What is this… presence?" Prince thought.
Finally the silence was broken from a voice looking down on them from the ceiling.
"You've kept me waiting far too long sister."
A man with long hair was hanging from the ceiling upside down looking down on them. He had his feet lodged into a wooden beam as the thirteen swords on his back dangled off his shoulder.
His brown eyes penetrated the room landing on Prince momentarily before he dropped to the floor.
"Big brother… Wei…" Ying said trembling.
"You've got to be kidding!" Prince screamed in his head. "Her big brother is Weisheng! This is bad!"
"M..M..Master Weisheng… what are you doing here?" Lei said.
"Hello Lei" Weisheng said. "What were you doing all this time? Having a honeymoon with the princess? My father told you to get her to Paris a week ago!"
"I'm sorry!" Lei said getting on his knees. "Please have mercy…"
"Shit!" Prince thought. "How long was he up there! How long was he listening! Am I screwed now! I can't make even the slightest mistake here! If I do Ill be de-"
"Quiet Prince!" Pedro said. "Calm down… if he suspected you were Prince He would have killed you based on your souls aura, he can read that!" Pedro said.
"Aura?" Prince said. "The eastern warriors have a system of using the soul they call Ki. Unlike Westerners they don't really have artefacts, they have scrolls where they use techniques that pass from one generation to the next. One of those techniques is called Gǎnjué it allows them to sense someone's soul.
"Then why hasn't he killed me?" Prince asked.
"Because your soul is Prince de Bourbon right now it only becomes the dark prince when you have transformed! Remember no one knows that about you as it stands."
"So I'm in the clear?" Prince asked.
"For now… yes it seems." Pedro answered
"You!" Weisheng said walking up to Prince. He got up close, putting his face inches between them.
"Just who exactly are you? And why are you wearing my armor?"
"Wiesheng I can explain he's-"
"Silence!" Wiesheng yelled. "The only person I am talking to right now is this man"
A single drop of sweat ran down Princes neck as he became face to face with his Uncle's right hand man.
"This man..." Prince thought I've never felt such a powerful presence... Is this his ki? whatever it is its flowing through the room and taking over everything!"
"It's the Gǎnjué " Pedro said. "Stay strong, he's reading your Ki."
"Why is his soul so nervous..." Weisheng said. "He knows who I am no doubt... but why is it he is so scared? What is it he's hiding... that mask looks interesting as well..."
"I can't be afraid here" Prince thought. "I have to be ready to fight at any given second."
"His Ki" Weisheng thought "It's changing... its becoming dark... is he preparing to do something? No.. he can't possibly be thinking of fighting me? He doesn't even have a weapon."
"Get ready Pedro" Prince said. "This could get ugly"
"Name yourself" Weisheng ordered. "And remove your mask, whatever your hiding it ends here."
"Very well" Prince said dropping his hands. "My name is-"