The Crimson Prince： Awakening

Will could only stand motionless at the door while it shut. His hand reached out at nothing as his eyes chased after his now ex girlfriend.

Knowing how hollow he had to be feeling, Maya put her arms around him and held him close, cutting off the view of where the archway stood just seconds before.

"I know you"re hurting, but we need to leave. A flight should do your mind some good." her feet left the ground, yet she held onto Will"s jacket as his feet remained firmly on the ground. "We have a moment for a breather before we kick some sense into your father, I think we have enough time to show you the kingdom you"ll be ruling one day."

Will looked up at the floating girl who he saved not even a year ago and gave her a half hearted smile. Her black dress was in tatters from when she dropped from the sky by Jake"s blow. Her long brown hair waved gently in the breeze. What was once a permanent scowl on her face had changed back to the smile she gave him when he first met her.

Will put a hand in his pocket and felt a familiar shape. Even though the jacket went through a change during the crusader"s pact, the contents within remained the same. Within the pocket rested the lineage ring he had been saving for Jake.

With the cross that was thrusted into his chest by Jake, it was safe to say Will didn"t need to hold onto it for him anymore. He looked up at the weaponless Maya for only an instant before closing his hand over the ring and bringing it from his pocket.

"Maya, come back down for a moment, this won"t take long." she hovered in confusion for only a second before putting both feet back on the ground.

"What"s up?" Maya raised an eyebrow, curiosity flowing in her eyes.

"What happened to your sword?" he thought back to the rusted iron blade. The one in which pierced her chest a few months back. Jake had made her hold onto it in order to portray a message upon her. He wanted her to know she was as helpless as she was that day.

Maya looked down at her hands and realized she was no longer holding the weapon. Her eyes lit up in fear momentarily before she took a deep breath. "I don"t have it anymore!" she looked up at Will in surprise.

"You must have dropped it in the battle when you were struck down." Will said as he looked around the field. So many bodies littered the ground, it was impossible to find a single sword, let alone any other weapon. Most of the weapons were half melted with the blown apart corpses that surrounded them.

"You don"t get it Will, I wasn"t allowed to let go of that sword. It was proof that I was a slave to the darkness. When I set it down even for five minutes, it would appear back in my hand as a reminder. If I no longer have it, then I am no longer bound by darkness!"

Her excitement was intoxicating to Will. He couldn"t stop himself from smiling. All of the drama from only moments before was lost. Bianca had made her choice to leave him, there wasn"t anything that could be done to sway her, and he didn"t think it was his job to do so.

Will opened up his clenched fist and presented the ring to Maya. "I have a replacement weapon. Where your last one was of darkness and despair, this one will be an actual extension of your soul. It will bring out the aura from within you."

Maya looked at the ring within Will"s hand and smiled. "I always thought you would give me a ring, I just didn"t think it would be this soon." her playful demeanor forced a smirk from Will.

"You know it"s not that kind of ring right?"

Maya nodded playfully while taking the ring from his hand. "I do." she gave him a knowing smile as she eyed the ring now in her hand. It was an ordinary silver ring, just like the ones she had seen on Bianca and Leo, along with the other two hundred and fifty they had saved from her rampage.

The two words she had said held more meaning than simple understanding and turned Will"s face a scarlett that rivaled his own aura. Maya laughed as he stared down at the ground in embarra.s.sment.

Maya only reveled in the awesomeness of her ability to make Will lose all seriousness for only a few moments before slipping the ring on her left ring finger.

The moment the ring touched her finger, Will lost all playfulness and was dawned by his golden aura which was absent its usual crimson.

"Kneel." Will said in a voice that did not sound much like his own.

Maya did as she was told. On one knee she looked down at the soft gra.s.s beneath Will"s feet. There was a humid feeling within the air, not even a breeze went through the fields. It reminded her a lot of what her father would call that kind of calm, it usually happened before a storm.

As she looked down to the ground, she felt her hand raised by Will. He placed his hand over the ring and she could feel the power of his aura being absorbed by the plain silver ring.

"What I"m doing now is not considered the traditional initiation Maya, but bare with me." Maya was sure of it now, it may have been coming from Will"s mouth, but the words were not his own.

More power seeped into the ring while Will"s other hand moved to Maya"s chin, lifting her head to gaze into his eyes. She would normally enjoy looking into his deep hazel eyes, but at that moment they were blue.

"You aren"t Will." She saw a look of experience within the alien eyes that stared from above her.

The late king chuckled softly. "As I said, this is no traditional initiation." he said as he put a finger to her temple. "Only because there has never been a candidate such as yourself before."

The world around Maya began to fade, the darkness of the night overcame her as she looked up into the eyes of which were not Will"s. "We will continue this conversation elsewhere in just a few moments." Cainus said as she finally lost consciousness.

Maya came to on a red carpet in what seemed like a golden room she could only imagine in her dreams. Looking around at the ma.s.sive gold pillars was enough to give her worry. Where the h.e.l.l am I? She thought as she stood.

As Maya took in her surroundings her eyes stopped at a golden throne, or more importantly who was seated in it. In wrist and ankle shackles, Will sat atop the throne unconscious yet she could see the rise and fall of his chest. She knew he had to be sleeping.

"What have you done to him?" she called out to who she knew would be lurking in the shadows. "Why have you brought us here?"

A low chuckle came from behind one of the gold pillars. "Don"t worry Maya, my bro is just sleeping."

Maya"s breath caught, she knew that voice. Jake walked out from behind the golden pillar holding the same rusted iron sword she once held herself. The same sword that ran her through countless times in his own private room. She stared into the dark eyes of the man who defiled her night after night, the one who allowed his own men to take their turns with her after he was finished. The one who made her do unspeakable things.

Unbridled fury escaped Maya"s lips. The room echoed with her anger as she charged for Jake. "What the h.e.l.l did you do to him?!" she repeated as she tried for a punch to his face.

"Come on Maya," Jake said with a half hearted smile as he slapped her hand away with the flat of his blade. "You really should know better than to go after an armed opponent with just your fists." smirking he jumped back a few feet and presented her old sword hilt first to her. "I"ll give you your old one back of you want it." a chuckle escaped him when he saw her grimace.

"I would rather take my chances with my fists than to ever have to rely on that thing again!" she spat at his feet as she prepared herself for another strike.

"That"s not very smart Maya," he said as he jumped back to the throne. "You know it"s never really been you I"ve been after right?" her old sword pressed up against Will"s throat. "What did I say before?" he put his hand up to his chin in a thoughtful manner. "Oh yes, I remember now. I can kill you any time I want."

Maya took a step towards the throne. She knew she didn"t have many options available. She was fast enough to intercept any motion he made, but without a weapon how would she counter his strike?

Looking at the unconscious Will, she saw his cross hanging from where it usually was. The ornate silver with gold wiring, the ruby and now opal which took their place atop the cross.

I need a sword. Maya thought desperately. She didn"t know how long Jake was planning to play with her. He was never the patient type in her eyes.

Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, Maya plunged herself as fast as she could towards Jake.

As she closed the distance, Jake prepared her old sword for a thrust to exactly where she was heading. Even if she tried to slow down at this point, the blade would still reach its mark.

Instead of stopping or even meeting the blade, Maya did something Jake didn"t expect. Seeing Will train for so long, she was able to understand some of the different ways he used his aura in battle.

Closing her eyes, Maya relied on her memories to guide her in what she had to do. Her aura sprang out from underneath her, propelling her up into a flip over the throne. Half way over, Maya reached her arm out and snagged Will"s cross from around his neck. In seconds, gold flame erupted from the cross and produced a pure golden blade. The familiar silver was nowhere to be seen. There was no crimson to accompany the all surrounding gold flame Maya surrounded herself in.

Having completed the flip, Maya turned and lodged her new sword directly into Jake"s chest.

The man before her only smiled as he wiped blood from his mouth. "Good for you Maya," he said in a sincere tone, almost friendly. "It seems you are not complete darkness after all." he stared out behind a golden pillar only a few feet away. "What do you think?"

Maya followed his gaze to the pillar and noticed a blonde man in a crimson jacket that could only belong to royalty. Sitting atop his head was a crown with a ruby and opal lodged in their respective socket.

"As I said twice before Maya, this isn"t your traditional initiation." Cainus said as he walked out into view. "But I must say, you did exceedingly well."

The closer Cainus got, the more brilliantly Maya"s aura glowed a solid gold. "Never forget Maya, this is your true aura."

"No, Will gave me this aura in order to save me." Maya said without a seconds hesitation. "I"m just a farm girl, if anything I would be lucky just to have crimson."

"Maya, the aura is not blessed to those in a powerful position." Cainus said as he placed his hand upon her sword. "The aura is placed upon those who have a powerful fate. Destiny chose you to be beside Will, to protect him and guide him." he moved his hand along half of the blade. Where his hand trailed, darkness stained it.

Cainus ran his hand all the way down to the pommel of the sword. Now the sword had half the appearance of royal gold and half chaotic black. "Consider this weapon an hourgla.s.s. You may be apart from Will up until the sword turns pure black. When this happens, your aura will no longer be strong enough to withstand the corruption. Being near Will, allowing his own aura to flow through you will sustain your life force until such a time that he can cure you of this darkness."

Maya opened her mouth to speak, she had so many questions. But just as the battle started, so to did it end with a finger to the temple. "You did well Maya," Cainus said gently as she found herself falling through darkness. Protect our prince, she thought she heard before everything went dark once more.