Author's Note: You guys thought I was dead, didn't you? LOL. I'm not. I was supposedly going to leave this in its incomplete state forever (Seeing that I became uninspired at some point). I was even thinking of deleting my account. But after reading Dream Prince again after…a very long time, my mind suddenly goes back into writing mode seeing how bored I am with summer right now. So anyway, here's Chapter 13, late as always :D
DREAM PRINCE
Chapter 13
Mikan's POV
My eyes were closed but I could feel the warmth that was emanating from the sun. It was oddly refreshing and much different from the one that usually woke me up in my bedroom. Or was it?
I opened my eyes since I knew that I was not in my bedroom. The first things that greeted my vision were some trees and bushes. Wait a minute. Just how did I end up in this forest? Oh right.
Natsume.
"NATSUME!" I screamed.
How dare that twit leave me all alone in this entirely different dimension? I didn't know where to go. For the first time in my life, I felt utterly lost. It seemed as if my recent memories were erased from my memory.
Just when I was about to sink down to the ground again, something covered my eyes and hit a pressure point that made me fall asleep again.
End of POV
"Okaa-san," Natsume said, "I've found her."
"Where is she then?" Natsume's mother looked at him expectantly.
"Well…"
Flashback
Natsume's POV
"Idiot!" I yelled at the brunette who was staring aimlessly into space.
She was in the bubble that was supposedly supposed to transport us back to the castle safely. We were all in our separate bubbles and we were supposed to steer towards the castle.
"What's…happening?" Mikan asked.
"Roll your bubble towards the castle!" I ordered.
"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?" She asked me, completely clueless of what she was doing.
Right. She had no powers so she can't make the bubble roll towards the castle. The bubble supposedly has a mind of its own and it was training for us royals to make it steer towards the direction of where our destination was with our minds. There must be a way.
"Pretend it's a hamster's ball thing, Mikan-nee! You're the hamster, so make it roll towards that big structure over there!" Aoi said.
"O-Okay," Mikan replied, unsure of what exactly she was supposed to do.
She made the bubble roll towards the castle but a gust of wind made her go completely off-track. She was going to get lost and this disturbed my concentration. Nevertheless, I was about to crash into the castle while Mikan was headed straight for the Forest Maze.
Supposedly, anyone who had evil intentions never made it out of that place. God, this was just going to complicate things.
End of POV
End of Flashback
"This means there's nothing we can do about this," Natsume's mother sadly replied.
"Nothing except enter that maze! I promise, I'll get out of there alive," Natsume said.
"I'll go with onii-chan," Aoi said.
"No, Aoi. You must stay. You can't go into that forest! We're not even certain if your brother will be able to get out!" Natsume's mother retorted.
"Fine," Aoi said, obviously annoyed at her mother's reaction.
"Your father might have found her by now since half of the forest is his domain. There's a possibility that she landed in their half. Hurry, Natsume."
Natsume got a bag that was brought by one of the members of the court and teleported his way to the edge of the Kingdom of Dreams.
Natsume's POV
The sun was about to set but I could not waste anymore time and put my mission of looking for Mikan on hold. I could not simply surrender her to my father's clutches.
You see, my mother and my father are two very different people; or rather they're very different creatures. My mother is wiser and always looked at the brighter side of things. She always thought that there was no other way to go but forward. My father, on the other hand, was a rather gloomy and was a bit of a sadist. He was always pessimistic and irritable about a lot of things. At one point, these two complete opposites got along with each other so well, to the point that they had two kids together. Well, this relationship doesn't seem to last long since they split up. So the dream world was split up. My mother's territory was called the Kingdom of Dreams while my father's domain was the Kingdom of Nightmares. Mom got custody over us kids however, when both of them pass away, I was to have the Dream World in my hands and Aoi was to get nothing but her title and my support in whatever she wanted to do. Aoi had it easier on her since they put all of the pressure on me.
Knowing my father's sadistic ways and his strength, he was sure to have kidnapped Hotaru, Ruka, and Youichi and he was probably on the prowl for Mikan too. Maybe he'd already gotten Mikan. I wouldn't know.
The sun was setting fast and I did not know where I was or where I was headed. All I knew was that I had to find Mikan.
End of POV
Mikan's POV
"Is she awake yet?" A stranger asked.
"Doesn't seem like it," Another replied.
It was pitch black and really cold. The room I was in gave off one feeling, a feeling that I was going to die and there was nothing I could do about it. It made me feel so hopeless. My hands were bound to my back and my legs were bound together and it didn't seem like I could wriggle these things off. They were tight and I was trapped in this room and by the looks of it, I was going to be stuck in here indefinitely.
Something kicked my knee.
"Don't…scream. You can't let them know you're awake," A familiar voice whispered.
"H-Hotaru?"
"Duh, baka. Ruka and Youichi are here too. Now, just shut up and I'll get those things off you."
"But aren't these ropes?"
"They're spirit ropes. I can tell."
"Please don't tell me you're not human too?"
"Shut up."
Hotaru muttered a prayer and I could feel the things that bound my hands and legs loosen up.
"You've been very kind spirits. I hope you find your way," Hotaru muttered.
"What are you?" I asked her.
"A spirit," She replied.
"So, you're not human?"
"I can take any form. I'm beginning to like this human body a lot. It's really comfortable and warm. Plus, I can do a lot of things with it."
This is just great. So, I've just recently found out that the person I like is a prince from another world and that he's literally the "Prince of Your Dreams". And now, I find out that my childhood best friend is in fact a spirit? Is the world going nuts or what?
"So, we're all free now and all we have to do is get past those guards," Ruka said.
"Are you human, Ruka-pyon?" I asked.
"…I can actually talk to animals. But besides that, I'm a pretty normal human being," He replied.
"Youichi?"
"I'm normal, Mikan-senpai," He replied.
"Well, at least I know I'm not abnormal."
My eyes were beginning to get used to the dark. I could see everyone's faces but Hotaru's was the face I could see the clearest, since she was the one nearest to me.
"This king's harsh. He used spirits to build the entire castle," Hotaru pointed out.
Hotaru muttered something again and it seemed that the guards outside had fallen asleep, since that was what she told us.
"So, all we need now is someone to tell Hyuuga that we've all managed to escape and he should come drag us out of here since we don't belong here," Hotaru said, "You think you can tell the guards' lap dog to look for Hyuuga and send a message, animal boy?"
"Hey, I'm not a beast!" Ruka disagreed.
"Well, you're about to be," Hotaru smirked.
Ruka stared at Hotaru evilly and gave her a gesture that meant 'I'm going to kill you'. Hotaru just continued putting on her smirk as Ruka went outside to tell the dog to pass a message to Natsume.
End of POV
"Hey, dog!" Ruka called.
"What do you want, boy?" The dog asked.
"Do you know a boy who looks our age who has red eyes? He's a bit tan," Ruka said. He suddenly spots the picture on the wall. "He kind of looks like that guy!" Ruka pointed at the picture on the wall.
"I do know that the king's way older than a measly boy like you but he does have a son who lives in the other kingdom and he looks exactly the same. Almost like a carbon copy of the king."
"Can you tell him to come here? Tell him that Mikan's here. And so is Ruka, Hotaru and Youichi."
"You owe me for this, boy. What's your name, by the way?" The dog asked.
"I'm Ruka. I swear I'll repay you with something. Thanks!"
"The name's Bull," The dog said.
"Right. Thanks, Bull."
"So, all we can do now is wait," Hotaru said.
The guards were still fast asleep. The cell was still dark and filthy. None of them could still see a thing. But something was different now. It wasn't as hopeless as it used to be.
Author's Note: Well, that's a pretty long chapter but I'm sort of glad that I've still got my touch…somewhat. Anyway, I'm trying to read my stories again and somehow finish them. I'll be updating as soon as I possibly can. Forgive the grammatical errors, if any are present o.o I'm getting a bit lazy to proofread this. xD