Chapter 1: The Odd World
rough draft
"Stories are where memories go when they are forgotten"- The Twelfth Doctor
“Ow” Hale muttered as he forced his eyes to open.
He then realized that they were…
He couldn’t see a thing, he blinked just in case. Had he gone blind?
If he hadn’t he was in a place with absolute darkness, so dark it tricked all his senses. He couldn’t tell his right hand from his left
“Help, anyone!” He called out, at least he could still speak
Nothing, silence hit him from all sides
“Anyone!” he cried again, before trying to get up from whatever he fell into.
He couldn’t see, but at least he could smell. Wherever he was it smelt amazing and he had been too focused on seeing to take it all in. It was like jasmine, but better- he really couldn’t explain it.
“My prince” a voice croaked out
“Kaoru! Kaoru where are you?” Hale called out into the darkness
“Here My Prince” Kaoru Niigata responded, his voice louder now
“Here, where exactly?” Hale asked trying to follow the voice by crawling through what he figured was the ground, though he felt like he was crawling on nothing at all, the fear of falling hindered his movements
“God of Odds!” Kaoru cried out.
Light was now their friend.
Hale saw it too.Read more…
They were in the sky, or what was supposed to be sky. The ground was bright now, the light coming from it.
Magenta and white swirling together, what looked like stars’ millions of light years away seemed to be trapped in glass- glass that felt as light as air, glass they couldn’t reach
Hale could see Kaoru now, he sat across from him, his plain brown hair a mess.
Hale was just thankful that he hadn’t gone blind. Though from his memory and the last blind Prince Fei-lan did help to save Gibaltz and align the kingdoms so maybe it wasn’t all that bad if he had lost his sight
“Are you okay My Prince?” Kaoru asked
“I’m fine” Hale said distractedly as he tried to understand what they were standing on, the light seemingly coming from it
“Where are we?” Kaoru asked the confusion clear on his face as he took in his surroundings
“Definitely not anywhere on Caludis…or anywhere I’ve been to” Hale said as he looked up to see the blackness, a dark green blackness that seemed to never end
The magenta of the ground was as bright as the patches of white that bore the light. The specks of dust that floated around them as they were lit from below felt mystical somehow.
“We need to find others” Kaoru said walking slowly over to the prince, hesitating with each step he took on the ground that didn’t act like one
“We need to find a way out of here” Hale countered as the darkness from above gave him the chills
This was definitely not the Caludis- the planet they were from, with its silver seas and skies, it’s lush green vegetation and vibrant red sand, this was the unknown, the unnatural
Hale didn’t know how much the direction of light could change the way people looked but it did, Kaoru looked menacing because of the shadows when he really wasn’t
“My Prince…over there” Kaoru pointed to a huge dark spot in the ground, a place where the light came down instead of coming up
Hale walked towards it, Kaoru in tow. They neared it and it shifted slightly
“What is it?” Kaoru asked
“What is any of this” Hale said looking around once more. The place seemed to go on forever…no beginning, no end, a barren waste that went on forever
“Yo, Niigata, Princey what is this place?”
“JR!” Hale said spinning around to face the taller boy
“You’re unusually happy to see me” JR joked his blond hair ruffled from what Hale figured must have been the fall that brought them all here
“I’m actually happy to see anyone right now, I still sort of despise you” Hale laughed
“Good to know Princey”
“It’s Prince Halen III to you” Kaoru corrected
JR rolled his eyes
“Where…where did you come from?” Hale asked as he looked around once more, he was sure that a second ago Kaoru and himself were the only ones in this place
“My parents, or are you going for something more philosophical here?” JR grinned
Hale sighed and eyed the taller boy sternly
“Look I just got here and saw you two”
“Impossible, there was no one here” Kaoru said taking the words right out from Hale
“What is that shadowy thing?” he asked paying his attentions to the prince and ignoring the attendant
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out” Hale said as he strode closer to it
“My Prince, caution please” Kaoru warned
Hale nodded distractedly as he peered into the abyss that the light from above was shining into
“It’s a hole”
“Let’s jump in then” JR grinned walking over
“You’re insane JR Radley, absolutely insane” Hale said with a shake of the head
“I’ll be wise not to forget it” JR laughed as he felt his pockets
“It’s unending…maybe we’re in a cave or something” Hale said looking up once more at the darkness that gave him chills
“Ever been to a cave like this Princey…I didn’t think so” JR reasoned
Hale sighed as he passed his hands through his messy black hair
“Ever tried using one of these” JR said fishing his phone out of his pocket
“That won’t work here” Kaoru laughed
“I’ve got no bars; this is the first time Niigata has been right in his 16 years on this planet”
Kaoru rolled his eyes
“Come let’s jump, you too Niigata” JR laughed as he grabbed Hale by the wrist
“Unhand him!”
“Calm down, why’d you have to act like you have something up your ass half the time”
“Because you’re a rash brute that’s why!”
“Guys…hush, listen” Hale said silencing them
The silence of the barren space echoed, the illuminated dust spun silently around them
“I hear nothing Princey, you okay…maybe this place is driving you mad”
“No, listen”
Whispers sounded, very faint but they were unmistakably there
“Where are they coming from?” Kaoru questioned, intrigued
“The hole” Hale said no louder than the whispers from the darkness below
“My Prince it’s unsafe!”
“Oh would you shut up already”
“Guys, I think this is our way out” Hale said removing his shoe
“What are you doing?” JR asked, and from Kaoru’s expression he wanted to know the same
“Checking its depth” said Hale as he threw his shoe into the shadows
The shoe vanished without a sound
“I think Princey might be on to something”
“This is madness” Kaoru disagreed
“Well you can stay here and starve to death or you can follow your prince into what might be the fucking promise land, it’s up to you” JR grumbled
JR grabbed the prince’s hand once again
“You coming Niigata?” JR asked looking over to the prince’s attendant
Hale gave his Kaoru a reassuring smile as he stretched out his hand
“My Prince I don’t think…”
Hale grabbed his arm firmly “We’re doing this; I’m not missing Harper’s fan”
“What’s Harper’s fan?” JR spat
“His Highness’ favorite televised drama” Kaoru sighed
Hale grinned
“I wonder if I’ll make it back in time” Hale said mostly to himself as he threw his other shoe into the abyss
“Positive thoughts everyone!” JR grinned
“Geronimo!” Hale screamed as his last thoughts were to go back where he belonged
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“Where is Hale?” Empress Jai-dal questioned as she sat at her desk, her glasses hanging off her nose
“He’s in his chambers…supposedly” Duke Caos Ackintosh whispered as he brushed away his wife’s thick black curls
“He’s normally all excited for his birthday, strange” Jaime sighed as she got up from her desk and hugged him
“He’s growing up; you know how kids are, he’ll be up and about any minute” Caos suggested
“I hope so; I’ve been planning this feast for weeks”
Caos smiled “You work too hard”
“Says the guy who doesn’t have an empire to run”
“Harsh Jaime, harsh”
The empress grinned and sat on her king sized bed fitted with the finest silk sheets
“But today should be my resting day, after all I was the one who went through six hours of labour to have him”
Caos laughed and dug into his pocket to glance at the time on his phone
“He should be here…anytime now…” Caos mumbled
“Remember how he used to run to my chambers with the widest little grin and jump up and down the bed”
“I remember he was so cute”
“My baby is still cute” Jaime corrected
Caos didn’t disagree
“I also remember how you feared he’d become a spoilt brat because he only cared about his gifts”
“Gods of Odds were we wrong”
“You…you were wrong” Caos smirked
“Well I’m glad I was, and look at him now he’s the poster child for selflessness, the people love him more than me”
“That’s not true, Gibaltzans love you, you’re their empress Jai-dal the first of her name, the lover of the amazing Duke Caos Ackintosh”
“God of Odds you’re obnoxious”
“As all Ackintoshes are” Caos smiled as he glanced at the door, the door that didn’t swing open in childish excitement
“Maybe he’s sick” Jaime offered as she met her husband’s line of sight
“Hale never gets sick”
“True”
Shouting sounded beyond the door
“What’s going on?” Jaime questioned as a frown made its way to her forehead
Caos got off the bed with Jaime at his heels as they swung the door to the Empress’ chambers open
The Rayera palace was large, and ever growing. Its floors were covered in marble, it’s walls built with precious metals and the finest stone and the commotion outside didn’t belong here
“My sovereign, I’m sorry for the disturbance” said an attendant not older than 18 as she bowed reverently, her face touching the floor
“Stand up girl, what is the matter?” Jai-dal commanded
“It’s the Prince, it’s Prince Halen III my sovereign”
“What’s wrong with Hale?” Caos said his voice becoming weak
“I…I don’t know my duke” the girl said as her arms trembled
Jaime wasted no time and ran to the nearest elevator with Caos not too far behind. Each step felt heavier than the last.
“He’ll be okay” Caos comforted though he didn’t seem convinced himself
Jaime looked straight ahead, her face unmoving as she stared at her reflection in the elevator mirror, her green eyes threatening to drop tears- but she willed herself not to
When they heard the familiar -ding- of Hale’s floor they almost tripped over one another in a race to get out of the confines of the box that kept them away from their son
“My sovereign” said a servant who was surprised from their entrance
“I need to see him; I need to see Hale” she ordered as she made her way to his chambers that stood at the end of the long hallway
Caos held her hand, she didn’t know how much comfort a touch of another could give until now
The commotion grew louder, and soon Jaime’s ears were ringing
The attendants all parted the way as they sped towards the end of the hall
The shouting sounded clearer now
“I am not him, I am not even a he, unhand me peasants, unhand me all!”
“My Prince stop, stop!”
Caos looked to Jaime, confusion grew on both their faces
Jaime swung the door open, Hale’s room looked as it usually did, with his history books scattered on the dark hard wood floors, and more books sitting on the floor to ceiling bookcase. Overgrown plants flooded the room and more plants hung from the ceiling.
Hale’s room was always odd to Jaime but never this odd
On his usually unmade bed sat what looked like him screaming his head off- but it wasn’t
“Who, who is that?” Caos questioned
Jaime looked towards her husband and then at the person on the bed, the person who had to be held down by at least 5 attendants
“Release him” Jaime commanded
And the attendants did, albeit unwillingly
“I am not a him!” the person screamed
Surely enough the person wasn’t. She had Hale’s black hair and even his emerald green eyes but she wasn’t him. Jaime knew her own son when she saw him
“She looks exactly like…she is…” Caos trailed off, his voice the echo of confusion
Jaime was confused herself, if it weren’t for the hair that fell at the girl’s knees she would have thought her Hale herself
“Who are you?” Jaime questioned as she took a hesitant step into the room
“I shall answer no questions peasant, I demanded to be taken back to Rayera!”
“That is the Empress of the Gibaltzan Empire you are talking to” an attendant corrected, his face hot and tired
“This is Rayera” Caos said turning towards her
“Lies, you all tell lies!” she screamed
“Who are you, girl?” Jaime demanded
“I am Lady Helena of the house of Ackintosh and I command that you take me home!”
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