Will of a Prince

Avala stomped on Slimo’s chest as he laid flat on the floor.

"What the hell was that?! You held back, didn’t you?"

Slimo didn’t respond. He refused to look his sister in the eye as he grimaced in pain.

"ANSWER ME!! DID YOU HOLD BACK?!"

Slimo sighed and spat some blood out of his mouth.

"If you stop crushing my ribs, I’ll tell you."

Avala cursed silently to herself and lifted her boot off her brother. She backed up slowly to give him some space.

"Get up. Get up or I’ll kill you, Slimo!"

Slimo groaned and rolled himself over to try and push himself off the ground. However, it was still slippery from when Avala had activated her release power. His arms fell under him and he fell back to the ground.

"Could you maybe give me a hand?"

Avala simply glared at Slimo intently. He sighed deeply and struggled to stand up once more. Once he balanced himself properly, he looked his sister in the eye.

"Uhm. Hi?"

Avala grinded her teeth together.

"Answer the question. Did you hold back during our fight?"

"I thought it was a spar?"

"Stop avoiding an answer!"

"So, what if I held back? If I didn’t, you would have won anyway."

Slimo coughed into his arm.

"Besides, are you really going to lecture me about holding back? You hardly showed an effort in this fight. Are you scared of me or something?"

Avala’s heart roared with anger. She took a few steps forward menacingly.

"What did you just say to me?"

She began tying her long white hair in a ponytail, preparing for round two of the spar. Slimo put up his hands.

"Calm down, geez. But you were definitely holding back, sis. How could you ever let me get my shirt around your neck? I could have easily snapped your neck just then."

Avala stopped in her tracks and lightly touched her neck.

’So, he was...’

"You murdered Leno, so what’s stopping you from murdering me too? Shouldn’t be too big of a deal, right?"

Slimo’s eyes suddenly became dark as he stared at his sister.

"I could ask you the same thing. Afterall, I’m the one who killed him, right? What’s a better time to get revenge than right now, away from all my friends who would jump to my aid?"

Avala hesitated.

"B-Because I don’t want your friends hunting me down! I’m incredible strong but hearing that Squabee chicks power makes me cautious!"

"You’re lying. You don’t really want to kill me, do you?"

Slimo limped forward. Avala’s eyes widened and she raised her fists.

"Don’t come any closer!"

Slimo ignored her and inched slightly closer.

"Come on, Avala. This whole spar was just a farse for you to blow off some steam. You don’t really want to kill your big brother."

"You murdered my big brother!"

"I am still your other big brother nonetheless."

"You betrayed the kingdom; you betrayed our family!"

"I love this kingdom and I love our family even more."

"You’re... you’re lying! This is all a trick!"

Slimo was feet away from Avala. He stopped and gazed into her green eyes.

"If you truly believe that..."

Slimo took out a dagger from his belt and got on one knee. He held it out in front of himself as to present it to Avala.

"...then take my head. Avenge the brother that you have lost, take revenge on me, the person who betrayed our family."

Avala stared at the dagger with wide eyes.

"T-That dagger must be cursed! You’re luring me in."

Suddenly, Slimo turned the dagger on his own throat. Small drops of blood escaped his neck as he lightly pressed it against his skin.

"Then I’ll do it for you."

Avala’s heart dropped. She jumped forward and yanked the dagger from Slimo’s hands. She panted heavily while staring down into his deep yellow eyes. There was nothing but grief behind them. His pupils were dilated and his face looked hopeless. Avala looked at the dagger in her hand, then back at her brother.

"Leno loved you. He was this kingdoms future!"

Without saying any words, Slimo grabbed Avala’s hand and pushed the knife towards his neck once more. To Avala’s surprise, she lightly fought against Slimo’s guidance. Her hand began to shake, tears welled in her eyes, she sniffled as words escaped her mouth.

"You... you just had to..."

She shook more. The dagger was cutting Slimo’s throat a bit deeper. More blood began falling down his skin and on to the floor.

Suddenly, Avala pushed Slimo’s hand away and dropped the dagger on the ground. She cried into her hands as she stood above him.

"I can’t do it. I can’t do it, Slimo. I can’t lose another brother."

She fell down on to Slimo and embraced him tightly. Tears rolled down her eyes as she sobbed heavily into his shoulder. Her wails echoed off the steel walls of the training room. Slimo brought his hands around his sister and hugged her gently to comfort her. Through her soft weeps, she whispered out the question she had been asking herself for years.

"Why... why did you have to do it, Slimo?"

Slimo remained silent for three moments before answering.

"I never wanted to do it, Avala. The information, the truth of what really happened, is hidden behind a veil of corruption. I only hope that one day you and father will finally understand."

Avala cried more into his shoulder.

"I don’t want information; I just want my brother back."

Slimo’s heart ached.

"Me too."

Avala and Slimo sat together in a warm embrace, silently. Though he didn’t admit it, Slimo was extremely happy to be with his sister again. Being with her brought him much more solace than he could have ever hoped for.

After a short while, Avala broke free from their hug and looked into Slimo’s eyes.

"Does this... ever get easier to forget? How have you been able to live on your own all this time?"

Slimo slowly stood up and offered her a hand.

"There are two reasons I’ve been able to survive as long as I have. If you walk with me, I’ll tell you."

Avala chuckled and wiped her eyes with her arm.

"Why does everyone keep bargaining with me?"

She grabbed hold of his hand and stood up.

They both limped out of the training room. Slimo had his arm around her shoulder to balance himself.

"So, how the hell did you stay alive out there? I can’t seem to understand how a normal human like you can handle monsters four times their strength."

"It’s simple. I had my friends with me.

"You’re friends?"

"Yup. They not only help me fight, but we encourage each other through every single hardship. You can’t find that out in the wild by yourself."

"Then, how did you survive all those years alone?"

Slimo’s face turned serious.

"It’s because I refuse to leave this world without either you or father learning the truth of what happened that night. I do not want to die knowing my family curses my name for something that wasn’t my fault."

Avala’s eyes widened. As hard as it was to be with her brother after everything, it was only getting harder to understand the context behind his actions.

Suddenly, Avala thought back to the moment she made fun of Lidia in front of Slimo. Truthfully, Lidia was anything but ugly. In fact, Avala was extremely jealous of her looks when she first laid eyes on her. She cleared her throat before speaking to Slimo.

"So... that... woman that you are with."

Slimo smiled being reminded of Lidia.

"What about her?"

Avala strained herself to say her next words.

"I’m... sorry about what I said before. I was very wrong. She is quite beautiful."

"I know she is. I am a very lucky man."

"I can feel powerful energy emanating from her being. Is she strong?"

Slimo thought to himself for a moment.

"She is possibly the strongest in our group."

"Who would win in a fight? Me or her?"

Slimo chuckled lightly to himself. Avala glared at him curiously.

"What’s so funny? I would win, right?"

"I wouldn’t get ahead of myself if I were you. I don’t believe you could win even you fought for a week straight!"

Avala choked on air.

"Impossible. I am the general of Paria Empire. I have slain beasts as great as leviathans with my command. How can she remotely compare to me?"

"Her ability is strangely perfectly suited for fighting people, one might say. She is actually immortal in hand-to-hand combat. Isn’t that funny?"

"I-Immortal? That can’t be possible!"

"After all the other powers you’ve heard in this world, immortality is where you draw the line for crazy?"

"Well, there has to be some way to defeat her, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes. From what I know, any sort of sharp weapon will damage her with ease."

Avala shook her head. She helped carry Slimo into the medical ward and laid him in the bed next to Garbriel.

"You have one scary group of friends."

She put a hand on his shoulder.

"I’ll make sure they’re ready for these upcoming battles. That is a promise."

"A promise from a general?"

Avala looked gazed deeply into his eyes.

"A promise from a sister."

She lifted her hand and walked over to Gabriel who was awake and reading a book. He put it down slowly seeing her take a seat in her usual chair.

"Did you win?"

Avala chuckled and smiled brightly.

"Once you tell me what your countermeasure to corruption is, I’ll tell you."