Ten Years Later…

Hikaru

"Ok, here's the plan." I unwrapped the scroll I had written out my plan onto the floor and smiled at my finished work. "Since tomorrow is our birthday, Kaoru and I made a plan to convince our parents to finally let me go outside. Dad did say that when I'm older I can go out if I stopped begging and trying to sneak out and that's when I was twelve. So five years seems like enough time to ask. What do you think Zorro?"

Zorro snorted as if he replied and nodded his head up and down. Zorro was my black Friesian that I was gifted on my fourteenth birthday while Kaoru got a white Lipizzaner named Knight. Since I didn't really have any human friends, I got really close to all the horses in the stable when the rest of the family were away to attend to some royal duties, which was a lot of the time sadly. Most of the servants didn't really like being around me besides my teacher Naomi and the royal guard Daichi, but since Naomi still had work to do around the castle and Daichi was usually gone with my family when they were away, I didn't really have anyone.

I loved Kaoru to death, but I sometimes grew envious of how everyone treated him so different from me. The staff adored him and got him whatever he wanted while they always made it seem like I was a burden even if I asked for some water. He was able to go outside whenever he wanted to, and even though I'm the eldest he was going to be king. He despised that I got treated like a dog compared to him just because I had powers, but no matter how much he tried to convince people that I'm good nobody seemed to believe him. Some of the older workers here knew I was good since they knew me from the day I was born, but they were all too busy for me.

"Prince Hikaru," I blinked a few times as I broke out of my reverie and looked over towards the stable doors to see a male servant. "Breakfast is ready."

"Thank you. I'll be there soon." The servant nodded and walked off. I turned back and looked down at my plan. Taking in a deep breath. "Hopefully this works."

…

All through breakfast I was restless. I was just itching to ask my parents to finally give me permission to let me go outside. As we were finishing up, I looked over at Kaoru, who was just as excited as I was. Once our eyes met, he nodded for me to ask my request.

"Mom, dad," I spoke to get their attention. "Since tomorrow is our birthday and we're turning seventeen, Kaoru and I wanted to know if we could go on a trail ride."

Dad seemed to narrow his eyes in suspicion at my request as mom just smiled.

"I don't see why not." Kaoru's and my smile widened at her response and I literally had to hold in all the cheering I wanted to do. Finally, after so long I was finally being let out of this suffocating castle.

"Which trail do you plan on taking within the estate?"

My smile faltered a bit at her question. It should've been obvious that I was talking about going on a trail ride outside the castle grounds. I've ridden all the trails here so much I can draw out a whole map in great detail from the blades of grass to the grains of sand since it was all engraved in my memory.

"Uh, well the thing is…" Kaoru drawled out as he poked at the leftover food on his plate. "We wanted to go on a trail ride outside the castle wall."

"We'll stay close by." I reassured as I saw mom's smile fell, "and we'll be gone for only an hour or two. I promise we won't go to any of the neighboring villages or anything."

Mom seemed as if she didn't know how to answer our request and looked over at dad for help. He didn't even bother looking back at her as he whipped his mouth and just gave us a straight, "No."

I could literally feel my heart sink. I've been patient these past few years and obeying the rules so they could finally trust me enough to let me out, but dad didn't even seem to care. Much less notice how much I've been trying to prove it to them. I glanced over to Kaoru, who seemed just as upset as I was.

"But why not?" I asked, not giving up so easily.

"You already know why Hikaru."

"But no one will know that I have powers. I have complete control of them mostly."

"Mostly" Dad emphasized. "You still have outbursts whenever you're upset, even with your gloves on. Imagine what'll happen if you take them off."

I began subconsciously fiddling with my black gloves. Tracing the dark blue crescent moon that was on the back of my hands. I didn't really know what was so special about these gloves, rather they lightly possessed black magic which helped suppress my powers...ok maybe that's why they were so special. But I was rarely ever allowed to take them off, and if I did without being told to, dad would scold me.

"But you promised that once I'm old enough you'd let me go out of the castle walls." I pleaded. "I'm turning seventeen. How old do I have to be to finally be able to leave?"

"I'm not discussing this anymore Hikaru. The answer is no."

"But Dad, I'm sick of being locked up here every day. I just want to see what outside the walls look like."

"Hikaru," Dad warned.

"You, mom, and Kaoru get to go out all the time. Why can't I? Why do I have to pretend that I don't exist? If not now, when can I finally leave-"

"Never!" Dad snapped at me. "You're never going to be able to leave the castle grounds no matter how old you are. So drop it!"

The room was dead silent for the next few moments and the tension between my dad and me was so thick you could barely cut it with a knife. It's always been like this with my dad and me because I'm far more rebellious than Kaoru, but could you blame me? Mom and Kaoru just sat there in the uncomfortable silence as dad and I stared each other down. Livid was an understatement of how I was feeling. Dad practically lied to me for most of my life and got my hopes up just to get me to keep quiet.

I slammed my hands on the table before standing up and storming out of the room. I heard Kaoru try to follow me, but dad forced him to sit back down so I could have time to cool off.

As I made it to my room, I used my telekinesis to slam the door shut. How could he lie to me like that? Bringing my hopes up… I felt tears begin to burn in the back of my eyes and sat down on my bed. I understood why my parents worried for me, they always told me that people would fear me for my powers, but I didn't have to show them. It's not like that once I leave these walls my powers would just shoot from my body.

Why did I have to hide away in this stupid castle all my life? I just want to get out for just a few hours to see what it's like in the outside world…why couldn't I have just been born normal..?

I laid on my bed, hanging my head upside down to relieve some boredom by looking at everything upside down. I was so bored, but I wasn't allowed to leave my bedroom since guests were over and I wasn't allowed to risk myself being seen in fear of people knowing about my existence and blah, blah, blah. But after yesterday, with what happened at breakfast I still didn't want to see my parents anyways, so I was fine staying upstairs and away from them. I may have been forced to eat with them, but I refused to talk to either of them and only to Kaoru. It may have upset my father, but I really didn't care. I've disappointed him since the day I was born, so why should I stop now?

My jaw tensed when I heard muffled laughter coming from down in the garden. I had my window open a crack to let some breeze in on the hot summer day, but the downside was that I could hear all the conversations down there, and the music playing for Kaoru's pre-birthday party. Kaoru hated whenever guests were over because he didn't like conversing with people much. He'd much rather stay upstairs with me while our parents did all the talking. But as future king, he had to be there...

I sighed as I sat upright, realizing that making the blood rush to my head wasn't helping with anything. Why was it automatically decided that Kaoru was going to be King? Wasn't the eldest supposed to take over? That's what I read in books. I would obviously have Kaoru rule by my side, but I was never even an option. It was always Kaoru. Ever since we were born, Kaoru had to take lessons about how to rule the Kingdom and learned proper etiquette. while I knew very little. Yeah, I knew the basics for just being born a prince, but I'd probably look like a peasant compared to Kaoru.

It was obvious that he was our parents' favorite. I suspected it a long time ago. He got a variety of gifts from them and other people. They took him on trips while I'm forced to stay home…they wouldn't even take me on a Christmas trip with them when it was just a family trip. They were afraid we might run into someone and the kingdom would find out about my existence. Kaoru begged for our parents to take me along or for him to stay home, but they refused.

It first hurt to know that they favored Kaoru more because he was normal, but now I'm mostly numb to it. I've lived like this for seventeen years now. So, I'm just numb at this point.

I let out a deep sigh and fully sat up, straightening my shirt. I needed to get out of this room. I didn't care if I wasn't allowed to when guests were over. Hell, I'm not even allowed on the balcony attached to my own room, but I just needed to get out of this stuffy room.

I got up from my bed and made my way to the door, opening it just enough to see if the coast was clear. I wasn't even going anywhere too far, just walking down the long hallway and maybe explore some rooms out.

Once I saw that there was no one, I began my fun adventure down the hallway that I've explored millions of times. Like every other place in this damn castle, nothing was new to me. Except the servants put new curtains that were a lighter shade of burgundy.

I ran my fingers along the stone walls as I slowly walked, looking out the window at the guests in the garden. Chatting among themselves until the birthday ball that was going to happen later tonight. I hated whenever there was a ball here because I always had to stay in my room all day and I'd get stir crazy because there was nothing for me to do. I read all the books I had, done all the assignments that Naomi gave me. I've even rearranged my whole closet six times in the same night because I was so bored. I was forbidden to use my powers in the castle, I was only able to use them when I was training to control them, but other than that I'd get scolded if I got caught just levitating something or just heating or freezing something.

I turned the corner and my eyes immediately caught light shinning from a slightly ajar door and opened it to see that the room was storing a whole bunch of extra items labeled for Kaoru...Were these for our birthday? But I don't see anything for me...I never got as many gifts as Kaoru, but I usually got about six gifts for my birthday. Two from my parents, one from Naomi, one from Daichi, and two from Kaoru. I knew that Kaoru got a lot of gifts from the surrounding kingdoms, but I didn't know how much.

I began rummaging through some of his gifts, seeing all the clothes, food, and knick-knacks. Things that Kaoru could really care less about. So, I guess I didn't envy him for getting all that junk. But out of the corner of my eye, I saw something catch my attention in the center of the room, I moved towards it and saw a box that's top was cracked open and then took off the top I saw a crown with dark blue jewels encrusted into it.

I couldn't control the aching in my heart as I looked at the crown. I know Kaoru was in the works of getting a new one since his old one had gotten too small a few years back, I kept begging for one too and our parents said that maybe I would finally get a crown myself…but they never kept their promise. Which I'm starting to see a pattern to.

I gently took the crown out of their box and admired it up close. It really was beautiful. Kaoru would love it. I knew he would say he wouldn't like it since I didn't get one as well, but I knew he was only trying to make me feel better.

I saw a mirror in the corner of the room and an idea popped into my head. It wouldn't hurt if I just tried on the crown for a minute, and it's not like anyone would notice anyway.

I made my way over to the mirror. I watched my reflection as I slowly placed the crown on top of my head. It fit perfectly, which I shouldn't be surprised since it was specifically made for Kaoru. I don't know why, but seeing myself wear a crown dug up some buried emotions that I didn't know I had.

I was a prince, from what I read and was told people, wanted to be in the position of power that I was in. Princes were the ones having all the fun exploring. Charming all the ladies, fighting all the beasts…I never had that. Ever since I was born, I've been locked up in this suffocating castle as if I was the beast. I knew every crack, scrape, and chip on these floors and walls. I could even tell you how many bricks were in each room because I've gotten so bored I just sat down and counted them. We have thousands of books in our library and I've read them all more than twice. I painted pictures and designs all over my room, washed it, and repeated.

My parents and the staff keep saying that I should be grateful that I live in a castle since it's so lavished and big compared to how other people live, and I have a whole bunch of staff who waits on me hand and foot, but if you're just stuck doing the same thing over and over again…it's not that fun anymore. My life truly hasn't been fun since I was a kid…

I jumped At the sound of the door opening and turned to see Naomi. She had a big bag in her arms that she seemed to have a little hard time carrying, but I knew she was too stubborn to ask for help. She looked shocked to see me in the room, but it was quickly replaced with a stern glare.

"Hikaru," she hissed and quickly closed the door behind her. "What are you doing out of your room?" She then noticed the crown on top of my head. "And why are you wearing your brother's crown?"

"I got bored in my room and decided to explore the halls a bit and saw the door opened so I just took a peek," I answered. "I wasn't going to explore for long, but then I saw the crown, and since I never had a crown before I just wanted to try it on…"

Naomi's anger soon faltered and she let out a sad sigh as she walked up to me. "God, you know it's hard for me to stay mad at you when you're already upset." She placed her bag down and took a hold of my shoulders to turn me towards the mirror, smiling at our reflection.

"The crown suits you, but you don't need a crown to prove that you're already a handsome prince."

I gave her a rueful smile, though her comment did make me feel a bit better. "Thanks Naomi."

Ever since I was born, Naomi was literally always there for me. She was like a second mother to me. She took care of me when my parents were away, was my teacher, and I was always her number one priority. She was one of the only people that didn't make me feel like I was in Kaoru's shadow.

She was around my parents' age, in her mid-thirties, but a lot of people believe she's actually in her twenties since her light skin had barely any wrinkles and there was no gray in her hair. I just said she was a witch, and she first hated me calling her that, but now it's a running joke.

Beside her, the other person who treated me like a normal person was Daichi. He was always by my parents and Kaoru's side, but would always be there for me as well. Once when we were kids, Kaoru and I fell high up from a tree and everyone had ran over to Kaoru to make sure he was alright since he was the crowned prince. But instead of going right to Kaoru like everyone else, he came over to me first to make sure I was alright. He's even let me break a few rules from time to time, but nothing drastic. I think, just like Naomi, he felt bad for me. So he made sure to always be there for me because I didn't really have anyone else.

"Oh, since I found you I guess I can give you this now." Naomi grabbed the bag she had entered with and handed it to me with a smile. "Happy birthday Hikaru."

I smiled and thanked Naomi as I took the gift from her and opened it to see to my delight a whole bag of new paints and brushes. Along with some random trinkets she might've gotten while running some errands.

"I knew that you were running out of paint and your brushes were getting kind of old, so I thought it would be a nice gift to give you."

"Thanks Naomi. I really appreciate it."

You have no idea how much I really do.

The daylight finally faded and it became night and my parents and Kaoru were about to head off to Kaoru's birthday festival after the small ball. He still begged our parents to let me come along, but they still refused. Mom saw that Kaoru was obviously upset, so she said they would bring me back something or whatever. I didn't really care anymore, there was no use in trying anymore since they already made up their minds that I'm never leaving this awful boring castle. Even though dad said he'd have whatever I wanted to be added to the castle to make me feel better being locked up here, nothing they added would make me want to stay here forever.

Kaoru still felt bad and promised to bring me something back from the festival before our parents told him they needed to go. Once they left, I just did what I usually did when they were gone. Just find something to entertain myself with. So tonight, I decided to pack up my new paints and went on a ride to find something to paint or whatever. I just wanted to test my new paints out.

However, while riding around the estate, nothing seemed like a good place to paint because I've literally painted all of this!

"This is stupid." I huffed out as Zorro and I continued down the trail I've been down thousands of times. "Why won't they just let me explore the forest outside? It's not that I'm going somewhere with a lot of people." I looked over at the walls surrounding the estate, blocking any view of the outside world. "I just want to see what the world outside these walls looks like…even if it's just a glimpse…"

Zorro and I just walked silently, still trying to find something, anything that eases my boredom, but as we kept going down the trail, a flock of birds loudly flew out of a bush, startling Zorro.

"Woah," I tried calming him down. "Calm down boy, they're just birds.

Once he finally calmed down, I noticed something brightly sparkling in the distance back against the wall. I hopped off of Zorro and carefully led him through the trees and bushes to where I saw the sparkle and was shocked to see a ribbon hanging on the wall with a key attached to it. Along with a note.

I plucked the note and began reading it.

'Happy birthday Prince Hikaru,

I know how much you wanted to finally get the chance to explore the outside world so I'm giving you the chance to. If you see to the right of this note, about ten bricks down should be a brick with a tiny cross on it. If you press it down, it'll expose a locked door to the outside which you have the key to now and for you to keep.

I hope the outside world is just as great as you imagined it.

From,

A castle guard.'

I looked up from the note and at the key. There was no way, the guards were just messing with me. They've done it before when I was younger, so this has to be a trick. It was way too good to be true…but what if it was actually real?

I listened to the note and traced my hand along the wall until I found the brick with a small cross carved into it.

"I guess this is it."

I lightly pushed down on the brick and there was a low rumbling as the wall slowly moved back before opening up, revealing the outside world I have been longing to see.

There was no way this was happening, after wanting to leave this God-forsaken castle for all my life, there was no way this was actually happening. But there it was, right in front of me. I slowly reached my foot over to touch the grass past this wall as if to test to see if it'll hurt me or something before actually taking a step outside the castle walls.

This is really happening. Oh my God, this is actually really happening!

Once Zorro was past the wall, I pushed down on the brick with the same cross on the outside wall, shutting the passageway close.

I looked out into the huge dark forest surrounding me. It seemed like it was never-ending. I've read about forests in books and seen paintings of them, but with the castle walls blocking my view of the outside world. I had no idea they were actually THIS big. It was almost overwhelming for me and a small part of me wanted to head back inside the castle walls to where I felt safe. But I was far more excited than anything. I mounted back on Zorro and I took a deep breath before letting it out and tightening my grip on the reins.

"Let's do this."