Chapter 2

'Wake up, Prince. Wake up. Wake up!'

Aysun has that weird voice again. Why must she always look up? I shake my head and look around. It looks like we fell in the sewers. Next to me, Aysun is passed out.

But…wasn't she just talking?

'The way behind you is gone, so you'll have to find another exit from these sewers. Be quick about it, start moving.'

"Wha-What? Who's there?" I look around, but no one else can be seen. I crawl over to Aysun and shake her shoulder. She mumbles something in that strange language.

"Aysun. We need to go." I shake her and look around for enemies. It seems we are indeed alone, but that voice…

"Go away, Prince…" she feebly pushes me away and sits up, holding her head.

"Aysun, we have to move on" I say, looking wearily around one more as the voice chuckles.

She looks at me, then at my arm.

"Can you heal it?" I ask, remembering of when we first met.

She looks at it for a moment, and shakes her head.

"I can try, but I doubt it." I look incredulously at her. "It is too deep into the bone, and looks more than just a normal wound." She traces her finger along the gold red lines. "But first I need to pull it out." She looks at me. I take a deep breath and nod bravely. Carefully, she takes one of the blades and looks back at me. "Quick or slow?"

"Q-quick…" I say shakily.

She doesn't let me finish the word and yanks the small blade out.

Or at least tries to.

A force field, made of black smoke and gold red lines, just like the ones on my arm, appears and throws us in different directions, both of us hitting opposite walls and slumping to the floor.

I curl myself around my arm and hiss loudly a string of profanities. After I recover somewhat, I look up to see her holding herself up on the wall, her knees weak.

"What was that?" she asks shakily.

"I don't know." I watch as she comes nearer and falls sitting next to me. She takes my arm again. "You're not going to try again, are you?" I ask.

"No." she shakes her head and I sigh, relieved. "I can try to heal it around the iron, so that it doesn't infect." She says, inspecting my arm. I nod and brace myself. She closes her eyes and hovers her hands over my arm. Dark blue swirls with twinkling silver dots appear around my arm. Slowly, the silver dots descend and touch my wound. I feel them cool against my skin, and sigh contently. The smoke dissipates and I inspect the rest of my arm. As promised, the daggertail is embedded in my skin, as if it were a part of my arm I was born with. It doesn't sting anymore. The gold red lines are now dotted with silver and the tips of my fingers are a dark hue of blue.

"Thank you." I say. Then I hear the voice chuckle again. I look around again, and stand up, pulling her with me. "Let's go."

"Are you afraid of the dark, Prince?" her voice is full of sarcasm.

"It's what's in the dark that bothers me." I pull her up by her arms and we go the only possible way.

'Be careful, the planks are slick. Mind your balance.'

"Do you mind not craning your neck back when you talk? The way your voice changes is direful." I huff.

"I didn't say anything." She says and leaps after me. I frown and continue. There is a chute ahead of us. I lower myself first and test the slippery walls. Looking up at Aysun to warn her, I hear it again.

'Good, good, now, head down.'

I know it isn't her, because even if her mouth is covered, her chin didn't move, and she hasn't bent her neck back to change her voice.

"Is everything okay, Prince?" she holds my wrist tightly as if afraid I might slip. I nod and continue.

Further along, we encounter some Sand monsters. One of them steps into the circle of light I am standing in.

'Oh! They do not seem to like the light.'

"Prince!" I look over at Aysun. "They don't like the light!" she yells and kills one of them.

I have no chance of being dumbfounded, there are more coming.

'Lead them into the light! Strike while they are blind!'

I, though confused, finish off the last of them and look over to Aysun.

"Did you hear that?" I pant.

"Hear what?" she says. It seems she is not out of breath. I shake my head and support myself with my hands on my knees.

After a moment I feel her hand on my shoulder.

"You need to learn to breathe properly." She says. I look up to her and grin.

"Yeah? I didn't know there was a correct way of breathing." I drily retort. She removes her hand from my shoulder and steps back. I huff angrily.

"I'm sorry." I say. "It's just…all of this is…"

"I understand." She says. "Let me help?"

I nod and watch as she puts a hand on my upper stomach. She looks at me.

"Pay attention." She pushes me, but I keep my footing. In doing so, most of the air in my lungs leaves. I frown confused at her. She keeps on pushing and letting go, forcefully controlling my breathing.

"This muscle I am pushing is called the diaphragm. The diaphragm functions in breathing. During inhalation, the diaphragm contracts, thus enlarging the thoracic cavity. The external intercostal muscles also participate in this enlargement." She released me and ran her finger over my ribs. "This reduces intra-thoracic pressure: In other words, enlarging the cavity creates suction that draws air into the lungs. When the diaphragm relaxes," she pushed again. "air is exhaled by elastic recoil of the lung and the tissues lining the thoracic cavity in conjunction with the abdominal muscles, which act as an antagonist paired with the diaphragm's contraction." She let go of me and took my hand. I try to suppress a grin when she puts my palm on her own dia…something. She lays my other hand on my own.

"Try to breathe as I do." I feel her muscles contract and relax and will my own to move the same way. Soon, I'm calm and feel like I'm rested.

"Thank you." I say and pull my hand back. She nods and we continue. I concentrate on breathing like she taught me and realize I tire less. I look at her and see it in her eyes that she is grinning knowingly. I cannot help but smile back.

"Why do you cover your face?" I frown and reach out to lower her bandages from her nose. She steps back, but doesn't stop smiling.

"Why don't you tell me your name? Not having a name is the same to not having a face."

"Fair enough." I say and continue.

We come across a fountain, and upon inspecting it, I say that the water is fresh and not from the sewers. I drink and look expectantly at her. She merely smirks and bends over the fountain, throwing her hair over her face. Her hand disappears behind the silver curtain and I hear her drink. Clever girl.

Suddenly, my arm starts throbbing again, as if it is burning. I yell out and fall to my knees.

"Prince!" Aysun comes and puts her arms around my shoulders, but is once again thrown back by the force field from before. Black smoke rises from my arm and engulfs me. I feel myself change while my body seems to be burning in flames.

"What have I become? A sand monster?" I look down at myself. My voice is strange too.

"Ugh…" I whip around to see Aysun sprawled on the ground, small silver dots dancing around her head.

"Aysun! Aysun! Are you alright?" I kneel down next to her. Strangely I feel weaker. I try to breathe like she taught me, but I must have been doing it wrong, since I still feel my strength leak.

"Don't ever throw me again…" Aysun sits up and puts a hand to her forehead. She tries to stand, but falls over a pot. Sand flies up. I watch the golden cloud fly towards me and be absorbed by my body. Immediately I feel stronger.

"Sand…" I marvel and break another pot. "It strengthens me!"

Aysun eyes me warily.

"It's me, Aysun. I must have transformed."

She stands up shakily and ponders on what to do. She kicks another pot and watches the sand float to my chest and be absorbed. She looks up and nods after a moment.

"We need to keep going and find some water."

My puzzled look is enough for my question.

"It seems you were infected by the Sands. If we find water we might be able to turn you back."

I nod and we continue. We encounter more sand monsters, but try to avoid them. Am I really one of them?

'Call it what you will, but you have been given the ability to destroy your enemies. Use it!'

I look at Aysun ahead of me and realize that the voice I have been hearing is only inside my head.

'What good is this? Even as I fight them, I grow weaker!' I think back, hoping to converse with the voice.

'Kill them, then. Let their life replenish yours.'

As if also hearing this, Aysun weakens them, leaving me to deal the final blow. I am thankful for that, since the sand from the creatures' bodies strengthens me further.

'Feels good, does it not?'

I notice Aysun only look at me questioningly and continue her strategy of weakening while I finish them off. Finally, all the monsters are gone, only their weapons lie around.

'Ah, I knew you had it in you.'

'I assume this is not permanent.'

'It is…if you want it to be.'

'I do not.'

'But you will.'

Aysun whirls around, an annoyed look in her eyes.

"What?" I ask. She just shakes her head and continues inspecting the room. I hear another chuckle from the voice.

'Why, then, is this happening to me?'

'Your little friend is right. You have been infected by the Sands of Time. Maybe it's the Dagger, maybe it's all the time you spent amongst the Sands, or…amongst the Empress…Either way, you are resisting it…mostly.'

'Mostly?'

'You did just change into something rather…unique, so I think the word is quite appropriate. Think of it this way: you have been given a gift - you are now stronger, faster—'

'Uglier.'

'Now, now.'

I hear Aysun snort, but quickly regain herself. Upon my questioning glance, she shakes her head.

"Must be the dust…" she turns around and points to a strange contraption on the wall. "Do you think you can activate that with your daggertail?"

I do so and smile at her. She merely turns and walks away. I sigh, confused, but follow, breaking pots for sand along the way.

"It seems the only way to go on is to swing on that pole up there, but I see no ropes…" I look up at said pole. Then, an idea hits me. I look down at my daggertail, then to the pole again. Grinning, I look back at Aysun.

"No." she steps back. "Noo…" I take a step towards her, grinning. "Prince, get away, I'm not swinging over that." She motions to the pit below us.

Just as she looks away to said pit, I use that moment of distraction to grab her around the waist and jump. She whimpers and hides her face in my chest, holding on to my neck with her arms. Just as we start to fall, I unleash the daggertail and hit the pole with it. Touching down on the other side, I pull it back and look down at the top of her head. I chuckle and sigh at her foolish fear of heights. She can jump over gaps and wallrun, but when the ground is too far away, or the gap too large, she jus—

I breathe in again and close my eyes. Her hair smells like night-blooming cestrums.

"Prince!" I snap my eyes open and encounter her dark eyes. I notice there are the smallest silver sparkles in the deep blues. Like the night sky.

"PRINCE!" I shake my head and focus on what she is saying. "You can let go of me now."

I do so and step back. We continue on our journey.

'That explains the transformation, but who are you?' I keep on searching for answers.

'Have you not realized? I am your untapped potential, your unrealized dreams. I am a part of you.'

'You're inside me?' I frown.

Once we drop from a chute, we land in water. Immediately the pain is back, only instead of feeling abnormally hot, the feeling is of freezing cold.

I fall to my knees and gasp.

"Prince!" Aysun runs up to me, but doesn't touch me, in fear of being blown back again.

'It's gone now. Water seems to fight this corruption. Why did you hide this from me?'

'What? And ruin all the fun?'

She huffs in frustration. I look up at her.

"It's fine now." I reach out to her. She cautiously touches the tips of her fingers to mine, squinting her eyes as if to brace for a blow, but it doesn't come. She sighs in relief and grasps my wrist to pull me up. We both notice that the marks on my forearm now reach to my shoulder.

When the Prince was struck by the Sands of Time, something was woken within. Something strange and cunning, something dark…The seven years spent on the run had embedded the Prince and made him hard. This burden sustained his other half, gave it strength. The Prince was tempted to do as it said, for it was a lightened darkness, offering comfort and guidance to a man who had just lost everything. But what were its intentions? Why did it help him? Only time would tell…

Note: The Dia…thingy information I got from Wikipedia.

Taka: Stupid.

Me: Shut it! Anyway… by next chapter you should read Turkish Legend, because I'm not going to be explaining everything in detail. And…yeah, that's all I have to say!

Taka: Review, please!