(Nathan POV)
I was drenched in darkness from all directions. There was not even a speck of light.
(Where the hell am I now. What is going on. My body feels heavy.)
I moved my head around to look but there was nothing.
(Shit. I am here and I do not know what is going on in the castle. If Cecilia dies and I fail the test, I will be in big trouble.)
"I heard that thought, you a*s hole." I heard a sound.
"Wha? What?"
There was no response this time.
"The hell. Am I hallucinating right now?"
"No, you are not" I heard the same voice again.
"Who are you? More like, where are you?" I scanned the area around me but found nothing instead of darkness.
"Who am I?" The voice answered my question with another question. "Well, you have never met me. I have never met you but we both know each other. We are two people who understand each other more than any one in this world."
A kind of fog materialized in front of me. Slowly it started to take the shape of a person. And then there was another man standing in front of me. It was true what he had said before. We had never met each other before and we might never meet each other ever in our lives but we knew each and every thing about the other person more than any one on the planet. The only person I had shared each and every one my memories with. The person who had in return shared all his memories with me. The person standing in front of me was none other than Kizen Von Gazell Arcadia.
"What?" He asked. "Surprised to see me."
"I can't deny that." I simply shook my head. "Where am I and what are you doing here."
"We are inside your head. Or is it my head. That thing is not clear." He said in a thoughtful manner. "And as for what am I doing here, this is my body. You are the one trespassing here."
"I-I-I cannot deny that either." I felt kind of guilty for some reason.
"We are not here to talk about these things. I have only a little time." He said.
"Wait!!!! You mean that you summoned me here"
"For someone soo genius, you act like a idiot sometimes." He massaged his temples. "No sherlock…..... I did not summon you here. And besides this is not a place at all. We are in a dream. Most likely you wont even remember it when you wake up. Even though you will forget, I still have to say this to you."
"And what is it that you wanted to say to me."
"I hate you"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. I hate you from the bottom of my heart."
"Yeah right! You know that it is not my fault that I am here stuck in this body of yours." I wanted to smack his face.
"Yeah, that much I know. But what you do in this body is all your fault."
"Do not give me this crap you bastard. You were the most useless piece of shit I had ever seen in my life before I took over." We were both shouting at each other.
"And you know it better than any one else that why I was like that."
"That is no excuse. You know what I have gone through as well. Am I crying like you? NO! Did I drown my self in alcohol? NO! Did I become a play boy and a bully just to feel some level of satisfaction for myself? NO! Kizen Von Gazell, you chose this for yourself. All your life is due to your own choices. You are nothing but a useless prick eating of your fathers hard work."
"Fathers hard work my ass. You know he did not have to do anything to achieve what he had. It was all given to him. When he became the king. You know how he treated me. And besides, you are the person who can't let go of the past. Still treating every one around you like pebbles. A pot calling the kettle black. Please give me a break. You couldn't even understand that he was trying to deceive you. 'I will be back my dear Nathan.' huh. Are you kidding me?"
That was the point I lost it. I ran and munched his face. He took the full force of the hit and flew back.
"You see that is what I am talking about. You think nothing of other people." He got up rubbing his face where I had punched him "All you want is to believe is that Sabas...."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP" I punched him again. But this time something unexpected happened. He intercepted my punch and deflected it using his left hand and with his right hand he punched me in my gut with all the force he could muster. I was blinded with rage and had let my guard down but still he blocked the punch too easily. I really felt it in my gut as I fell backwards. Without even wasting a moment he got on top of me and started hitting me in the face.
"You are the most inconsiderate person in this world. She helped you as much as she could. She even cried for you. She even tried to save you when her own life was on the line just now but what did you do. You thought of her only as if she was some test. You only saved her because if not, you would have failed the test. I know that I treated her badly but you have been using all the people around you like tools. You are ...…." He kept hitting me in the face wile shouting. I did not stop him. Weather it was out of guilt or some other emotion, I did not know. But one thing was for sure, what he was saying was all true.
(Have I really fallen that far. If it was not a test, would have I put myself in front to save Cecilia. I say that I have a very high regard for life but in the end I am just like him.)
His punches stopped and something wet fell on my face. I looked up and saw that Kizen was crying.
"You know" he started again. "When I was made the king, I wanted to die. That was how much my father had demoralized me. I believed that nothing good will come out if I try to rule the nation. So, despite knowing that the glass held poison, I drank it. Well, who am I telling this to? Of course, you know that as you have all my memories. I wanted to die and make Cecilia the queen but then due to some miracle, you came. I died but my soul was trapped. You came and took control of my body. The poison got neutralised due to your magic. You got all my memories and I got all your memories. I was actually happy. I thought that maybe, just maybe you will do some good." He got off and wiped his eyes.
"I am sorry" Were the only words I could muster.
"No, no, no, its not your fault. Why would you save someone you do not even know? And I should be thankful that you did save her even if it was for the test. I am the one who is to blame. I hurt the only person who cared for me just for my mental satisfaction. And I tried to put a child on the throne so I could run away. What you did is already enough. But for some reason I can't bring myself to thank you."
"It's fine really. I don't need your thanks. You are right. Saving another human being in danger is just common sense." An old memory flashed before my eyes. I was laying on the lap of a women. She was looking down at me with a warm smile. Her face was a little blurry. 'Remember Nathan, always help those in need. You are strong. Use the strength you have to help others.' She said to me.
"You thinking about her?"
"Yeah"
"She was a nice woman."
"I know."
"UMmmmm"
We both ran out of things to say after we had vented out our anger and frustration on each other. An awkward silence took us over.
"Look man I am sorry. I was just angry that you were treating us like that and...…."
"No its okay. You are right. I need to do something about all this. Maybe this is the true reason I was given this test."
"Brother ...…" we both heard a whisper.
"Looks like our time is up. We might never be able to meet each other ever again."
"Yeah, I know. It was nice meeting you." I said sincerely.
"Brother wake up please." The voice this time was clearer.
"Looks like your sister is missing you. When I am gone, do not let her be disappointed by returning to what you were before. Kizen Von Gazell Arcadia" I said to Kizen.
"Right back at you. You should also take care of your sister when you go back. Don't worry her too much. Nathaniel Morningstar." He smirked.
The both of us shook hand. Suddenly a light entered the darkness.
"Looks like that's my queue." I said as I looked towards the light.
"Hey listen to me."
"Hmm"
"You need to let go of the past and make some friend. Learn to trust some people. Not every one is your enemy. I know what you have faced in the past but still, learn to trust. Like you did with Curtia."
"WHO?"
"The maid that helped you escape...…." I could not hear his last words but I got what he wanted to say. The light engulfed me.
"Brother please wake up *SOB*" These were the first words that I heard when I opened my eyes. I looked around and say that many maids and butlers were standing in a line. Rena was there as well as Curtia. There was a weight on my chest. I looked and found Cecilia crying on my chest. For some reason I felt her embrace to be warm. It reminded me of sis I moved my hand and patted her head.
"Why are you crying little sis" I chuckled.
Immediately her head shot up. I saw that her eyes were blood shot and there were dark circles around her eyes. It indicated that she had been crying for a while now.
"Brother you are awake." And without another warning she jumped and put her hands around my neck. "You ARE AWAKED" She half laughed and half cried.
I smiled and patted her head
"Yeah sis. I am awake"