5 Chapter 5: Ego Death

December 31st 1610 a few hours later…

"I'm not going home anytime soon, am I Lindor..." Prince said. Sulking against a wall. He hung his head, covering his face with his hands. He had been carried far away from the square, and was now in a back alley, somewhere down the road from the Den of Wolves.

"Your home was burned to the ground by religious heretics" Lindor said regrettably. "Every last Bourbon has been killed or is pending execution…Everyone except two of them that is."

"Two of them?" Prince said, raising his head. His face was stained with tear marks rolling all the way down his neck. Wiping them away he looked at Lindor with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"The first, is standing right in front of me" Lindor said

"So… you knew" Prince said

"You had to see your mother go through that… I'm sorry… I had no idea-"

"Who is the other Bourbon? Who is the other who survived!" Prince said rising to his feet eagerly.

Lindor gave Prince a discomforting look. Letting out a sigh he took a step towards Prince

"The second… is the former leader of the Templars, and now the new king of France...Godefroi the Great."

"I see…" Godefroi answered "But If you were to love someone... and it turned out the person you loved never existed…Were you ever in love at all?" Godefroi asked(Prince remembered)

"He emerged from the flames and it was considered a miracle of God… But I believe he set the whole thing up. I think he betrayed your family." Lindor said

"What if I was an imposter who killed your uncle long before you were born, and impersonated him just to get close to you? Would you still love me then?" His uncle asked.(Prince remembered)

"Hey! Boy! Are you Ok? Answer me!" Lindor yelled shaking Prince

"....Forgive me Prince… I'm sorry I couldn't give you a better birthday…" his uncle said walking away. "If you hate me for that…I'll understand"(Prince remembered)

"Uncle…" Prince said… "There's no wa-"

"Richard and Zoe are… No this isn't possible! There's no way!" Prince thought(Prince remembered)

"I've said" Prince said "I've said those exact words before"

"Hmhmhmhmhm HAhahahahahaahah! Do you need my shadow eye again to see Boy?!" The voice said. "Even when your friends were fucking in front of your eyes! You still wouldn't believe their intentions! HAhahaha! How naive can you possibly!-"

"I see…" Prince said "So that's what happened."

"What? You believe your uncle betrayed you so easily? Without as much as an explanation?" Lindor said mind blown by the Prince's words.

"Anyone will betray anyone if they believe they are doing what is best for them…" Prince said. "If a man will betray another man for a woman…" Prince said. "Imagine what he would do for a crown?"

"No…" Lindor said gasping in amazement "Your hair… your eyes… They haven't changed…Who am I talking to right now? The boy? Or the spirit?"

"Uncle…" Prince said biting his teeth together. "You should have killed me in that room when you had the chance!"

Slamming his fist into the brick wall, his knuckle became drenched in blood. Prince didn't even flinch as the skin ripped off his knuckle leaving his bones exposed.

The image of his mother's brutal murder ran through his mind

"Prince!" He heard her scream through the flames

"I'm going to find you uncle… and when I do I'm not going to kill you… I'm going to take everything from you! Your kingdom, your loved ones, even your name! And once I've taken it all you will burn! You will burn just as she did! As the world laughs and spits at you!" Prince said spitting as he yelled animalistic ally.

"Yes Yes! Now do it and give yourself to darkness! Give me your soul! I will take vengeance upon this world and make it mine!" The voice inside Prince said.

"Hahahahahaha!" Prince laughed

"Boy?" Lindor asked.

"Me give my soul to you? Didn't you just hear me?" Prince laughed "From today on I will live for myself! It is you! You who will help me achieve my goals! No matter how evil or good they may be!"

"You think I will submit to a boy who is still a virgin! Don't make me laugh!" The voice said. "You think Pedro the Cruel will submit to you?"

"Submit or not… right now you have to make a decision, a decision that will have consequences." Prince said

"Consequences? You are giving me Consequences?" Pedro said

"Here are your options."

"1 Refuse to submit, I will place you back into that sword, and you can wait another thousand years for your next ancestor at the bottom of the sea!

Submit to me! Let me handle the situation

Lie to me, tell me you will submit, hopefully I play along if not I will kill you!

Choose wisely you only have moments, and I'm starting to lose my patience…"

"What… is happening to him?" Lindor thought

In a matter of hours, Prince had turned from a scared frightened child, into a savage beast yearning for vengeance. Even his eyes seemed tainted, their once timid blue softness, was now a frigid coldness that only grew closer with the passage of time. Prince looked back at Lindor with those eyes, avarice overflowing his heart.

"Uncle! Can you hear me!" Prince yelled, shaking his fist at the sky. His eyes became red once more, taking on the appearance of the Dark Prince.

"My days building castles are over! It's time this Prince started burning them!"

"Cough!"

"King Godefroi are you well?" A gentleman beside him asked

In the royal court of France, amongst a celebration of wine toasts and merriment, King Godefroi choked, coughing up some wine.

"I'm fine, it seems my body hasn't stomached the trauma of my family's turmoil. It is too early for me to be drinking wi-"

Godefroi's eyes flashed a vibrant yellow as a panic pulsed through his expression. He stood up from the table he was sitting at, looking down at the spilt wine.

"I'm… Impossible!" Godefroi thought

"Don't worry yourself sir I can have a servant"

"What… what does that imprint of the wine look like to you?" Godefroi asked anxiously. Not once shifting his eyes from the tablecloth.

"It looks like…" The servant said. "The number 33" The gentleman answered.

Godefroi dropped his head, and pinched his eyes together, maddened with rage. He snapped his fingers causing a masked man with 10 swords on his back to appear out of thin air behind him.

"Weisheng" Godefroi said.

"Yes master" The masked man answered.

"Retrieve those two from the dungeon, we will need to go over their testimonies once more."

"Right away" Weisheng said disappearing

"So... this is what fate has called you to do….A life of misery and betrayal… You will soon regret that decision Prince!" Godefroi thought