The Prince and The Pauper

Chapter 10

Yuma came back a while later with the flashlight in hand. He sighed in relief when he saw Astral there relatively where he was before. He took his hand and led him under a sturdy table.

"We'll stay here for now," he sighed. "This should hold until the bombing stops."

Astral nodded. He allowed himself to lean against the human boy comfortably, and Yuma wrapped his arms around the prince while the ground above them shuddered and bits and pieces of the ceiling rained down in a shower of dust and grit. After a moment of silence, Astral spoke quietly.

"Yuma, what did you do before my father built our palace in the middle of your city?" he asked, suddenly feeling the urge to know everything about this boy.

"Well, we dueled. Dad and I would duel to pass the time, and I would go to school." Then, he decided to be completely honest. "Life was much better before you guys showed up. We could go outside without a care in the world and just hang out with our friends. Now that those guys showed up, it's been harder to do those things."

Astral bit hit lower lip, suddenly feeling guilty. "I-I'm sorry..." He never thought he would say those words to a human. "But you must understand that we were attacked. Our old palace was being destroyed, and my mother died along with the building. Father wanted to keep out lineage alive, so we moved to another world to survive."

"Yeah, I get that. Still, it would have been better if they just didn't make things difficult. I think that the people may have been okay if not for the guards roaming around and treating us like dirt."

Astral laid his head on Yuma's shoulder. He was tired after being awoken so abruptly, and that tiredness was just now beginning to bloom. Nothing happened for the longest time while explosions and what sounded like thunder but really wasn't sounded above them. They should have been alert for any falling chunks of cement, but they were both very tired, and they soon fell asleep.

~.THEM.~

A small, white house cat padded in to where the two were sleeping. She smelled the strong scent of the Astral Beings, so she knew that at least one was around. Sure enough, when she arrived, there was one, presumably the prince that they missed.

She transformed into her humanoid form. She was an adult woman with a slender body since she always had to get in tight places when spying. Her entire body was white with pink inside her ears and a pinkish nose. Her eyes were a baby blue like a kitten's. Pink pads on her feet allowed her to walk along silently even among the quietest situations. A large, fluffy tail waved delicately behind her.

The house cat took out some sort of communicator and spoke into it. "Lady Shila, I found them. What do you wish me to do with them?"

Lady Shila's voice sounded in a crackling manner through the device. "I want you to do what our elites have left unfinished: kill them."

The cat nodded. "Understood." She flicked the switch on the device and placed it in a pocket of her cloak.

She walked up to the both of them and crouched to their level, purring slightly.

"Don't you two look adorable like that?" she said with relish. "Too bad I'm going to have to end this." She raised her paw and stuck out her claws. "I think I'm gonna have a little fun with you, though. Who to start with?"

Her paw hovered over the two of them, then settled on Yuma. Humans were the easiest to take out, so she could have some time to deal with the other one. She raised her lethal claws.

Unfortunately for her, Astral's eyes flew open with the sense of impending danger that all Astral Beings had. No matter if they were awake or asleep, they would respond to anything that would put their lives at risk. His eyes were both white with specks of gold that seemed to be growing.

With a yelp, the feline suddenly realized what was going on. He was going to fire lightning at her! She knew that the power of the prince was that of lightning while the power of the younger prince was fire. She had to get away immediately!

Too late. She was caught in the explosion of light and burns. Singed fur made the air rank, and the brightness of the flash awoke both boys with a jolt. Astral was blinded with the color yellow, blue, and white in alternating colors, so he knew something or someone was trying to get them. He snapped, and the colors stopped.

He crawled out of the table despite the dangerous tremors the ceiling made. He looked down at the house cat, who was having violent spasms due to the electricity firing off her nervous system. He scoffed, snapped, and finished her off by activating the lightning inside of her. With a final violent spasm of twitches, she was dead.

Yuma got out from under the table. "Wow. I didn't even know she was there," he mumbled in disgust. Was everything trying to kill them?

"Neither did I," Astral sighed. "Yuma, give me my things."

"Won't they just weigh you down?"

"Stop defying me and give me my things!" he scolded. "What more is there to understand?"

Yuma rolled his eyes, but he grinned when his back was turned. It was funny that he didn't realize that his kingdom was gone now. Maybe he was just used to telling people what to do.

He brought Astral his cape and jewlery. Astral slipped them on with practiced fluency. He looked more like his royal self now.

~.THEM.~

Lady Shila, the leader feline from before, awaited the return of her pet cat. She tapped one claw on her thigh as she walked around, watching her henchmen work on the tubes and going out to hunt for any humans that may stop them. Yeah, she knew about Astral and Yuma, who were looking for them, but they were nothing to her but insects who needed crushing when they got too nosy.

"How are we doing on bombing?" Lady Shila asked one of the dogs.

He remained unfazed. "Almost done with this round. I'm sure it's going to wipe out anyone who tries to come."

"Only if they happen to be out of the open." She grinned and looked behind her, where Akari and Black Mist were now imprisoned in an unbreakable cage. "Isn't that right, children?" She laughed with a slight wink.

Black Mist was now awake, and with his darkness mostly removed, he felt weakened and empty. He tried to get himself into a sitting position, but his arms just wouldn't hold him up. Still, he gave them a death glare and managed to prop himself up on the wall.

"I swear, when I get out of this cage and ragain my energy, you'll feel a whole nother world of pain! One much stronger than what my brother can conjour up!"

"Such hollow threats. You should know that you're in no position to make such statements."

Akari allowed the weakened prince to lean against her. "She's right. We need to get out of here first before making threats like that."

Black Mist eyed a rubber scabbard that leaned against the wall opposite of them. "If I had my flame sword, I could melt these bars."

"I doubt you could even lift the sword."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It has a heavy metal core that strengthens the hold on the flames on the outside..." He sighed and closed his eyes, hoping that his brother would make it in time before they took even more darkness from him.