Prince of Persia - Kindred Blades Chapter 20, a prince of persia fanfic

CHAPTER TWENTY

Light Path

As the Prince made his way to the Resistance's briefing room for their next mission, he came across Ervin. Quickly hiding his corrupted arm from the young man's vision, Ervin greeted the royal prince.

'Sire, I've heard stories of how you managed to slay a giant beast in the city coliseum the other day. Were you scared? Was it as vicious as the other kids say?'

'Oh, it was,' the Prince commented as he decided to play along and keep the child's mind at ease. 'My back was against a wall with seemingly no way out. All seemed lost, until I was saved in the nick of time by fellow resistance members who shot as many cannonballs at the monster as they could. Unable to sustain itself, it fell before our combined might.'

'Ooh, I knew it was true!' Ervin replied with joy and excitement. 'Nothing can stop the Prince of Persia! You cross his path and you'll stand no chance!'

The Prince let out a laugh, as he directed Ervin off to Asha's makeshift classroom. Even if the moment was brief, it had helped in taking the Prince's mind away from the stress of the current situation.

'Ah, to be young again.' the Prince commented, as he set off for the briefing. He was going to be a little late, but he was sure they'd let him off with a warning.

'...And if we look at the paths cut off here and here, there's an opening into the Gardens from this mostly abandoned city section. If we could send a group to investigate, perhaps we could find a way to re-strengthen our local supplies...' Darius was interrupted, as the Prince entered the briefing room.

'Prince! We were just discussing our plan for taking back the royal gardens from enemy forces,' Darius commented. 'If you're wanting to remain involved in the missions, you need to stop immersing yourself in calming exercises so regularly!'

'Sorry, lost track of time.' the Prince said, as he joined everyone at the planning table and asked to be brought up to speed.

As the Prince journeyed with Darius and several newcomer Resistance soldiers through the abandoned sector of Babylon's streets, the disquieting stillness reared its ugly head. After the previous encounter with Zurvan in his corrupted form, the Prince didn't feel entirely comfortable wandering the streets alone (least of all with the threat of the Dark Prince breaking loose). So having to slow down traversal for the sake of everyone else, was a price he was willing to pay for a bit of company.

And while he did have Zurvan on hand at any time, the Prince didn't like to draw his attention away from keeping the Dark Prince's influence under control, unless it was absolutely required.

Just when he thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, the Prince and Resistance members found themselves under attack, by a barrage of throwing daggers. It was Mahasti!

'Run through that door and close it!' the Prince shouted. 'I will catch up with you, once I am done with this!'

Understanding perfectly, Darius and the Resistance soldiers knew when they were outmatched and left the Prince to do what he did best, closing the door behind them as instructed.

'So, I see my shadow is still unwilling to face me himself and is inclined to send more of his generals to the slaughter!' the Prince quipped. 'What is he so afraid of?'

'Bite your tongue imposter!' Mahasti spat. 'No one talks that way about the true king. Be lucky he only wants me to severely injure you, before being presented at his feet for the final judgment!'

'Very well then. If its a fight you want, its a fight you'll get!' the Prince said, as he climbed up to Mahasti's position. 'I won't allow Babylon to fall while I still stand.'

'Then follow me and we'll see how long that statement proves true!' Mahasti taunted, as she ran off around a corner while the Prince managed to get to where she was before and continued to give chase, finding himself in a large squared city section of four rooftops above a high drop.

Climbing down, the Prince looked around but somehow, Mahasti had managed to successfully elude him. Unfortunately, the Prince found himself getting pelted with flammable material of some kind (which started to burn away at the rooftop he was standing on).

Having no choice in the matter, the Prince felt that distinct pain once more as a portion of the flames got onto his body and the physical transformation into the Dark Prince occurred.

From Mahasti's position on a far higher ledge, she felt accomplished with herself as she saw no Prince among the flames. But to her shock, a shadow arose from the ashes. Somehow, the Prince still lived. But how? Unless...

'Oh great,' Mahasti said to herself, as she used her superhuman legs to make a leap down to one of the intact rooftops. 'Looks like this capture attempt is going to take a little longer than expected'.

She couldn't see it, but the Prince was angry and ready to tear her limb from limb, for forcing him into this monstrous form.

Dark Path

'Sire, I've heard stories of how you managed to slay a giant beast in the city coliseum the other day. Were you scared? Was it as vicious as the other kids say?'

'Not now Ervin. I need to be at the briefing. Maybe another time?' the Prince dismissively said, as he made a run for it.

Ervin could only feel dismayed by the Prince's sudden disinterest. Was it something he'd said? The poor boy could only walk to Asha's makeshift classroom, feeling less enthusiastic about the day that stood in front of him.

'Not all of us are able to hold ourselves together as well as you seem to Darius.' the Prince said, as he joined everyone at the planning table and asked to be brought up to speed. 'So bring me up to speed and let's get this mission done already!'

Many of the Resistance members expressed shock at the Prince's sudden blunt and disrespectful behavior. But for Darius, this only enhanced his suspicions of the Prince's true motives. Clearly that encounter he'd gone through, had left more of an impact on the Prince than a mere glowing battlescar on his right arm. Biting his tongue, he summed up the plans for the current mission.

As the Prince journeyed with Darius and several newcomer Resistance soldiers through the abandoned sector of Babylon's streets, the disquieting stillness reared its ugly head. After the previous encounter with Zurvan in his corrupted form, the Prince didn't find himself feeling scared anymore. He practically longed for solitude again whilst traversing the abandoned streets with the Resistance members. It frustrated him deeply to have to slow down his pace, only because they couldn't do a lot of the high-flying acrobatics one like him could do through years spent refining his techniques.