Asta and Iwen

"Take care of your sister, okay Iwen?" A beautiful young woman shouted out as Asta ran out of the house and out onto the streets. "And be back for supper, we have work tomorrow!"

"Alright mom." Asta said, in a slightly annoyed tone. Then with a sudden leap, he then took off into the road, his boots clacking against the hard cobblestone.

"Iwen, wait up!" A small girl with white, almost iridescent twintails ran up to Asta, the piter pater of her own shoes sounding off of the road. She had the white hair and yellow eyes of a native Serian, though Asta had heard there were many other races within the Empire too. The girl, Eliza, panted as she caught up to him. "Iwen, you run too fast..."

Iwen. Asta still wasn't used to being called that name. Ten years had gone by, and he was the same age now as he was on that fateful day - that day in the old world. And yet, he still felt like Asta - not Iwen. He had grown used to the name, "Iwen" - familiar with it even - but in every sense of the word, he did not identify as Iwen, the bastard prince of the Serian Empire, but as Asta, the boy who had been slain in the conquest of Nyseros by the Yirbenites.

Not that any of it mattered at this point. He was truly alone. His younger sister, Eliza didn't seem to be able to recognize "Sylbia" or any details of the old world, no matter how much he had grilled her for it. At this point, it was probably safe to say it wasn't her, though a part of him hoped that she merely had amnesia.

"Iwen, slow down!" Eliza said. "Iwen, wait for me!" Asta rolled his eyes. If there was one thing that didn't seem to change across worlds, it was little sisters being obnoxious and slow. "Iwen, please, wait up!"

"Ugh, fine." Asta slowed down. "And please, call me Asta when mom isn't around." He remembered when he had declared to his mother the desire to be called by his old name. At first, she had jokingly gone along with it, then grew concerned the second time, and dejected upon the third. Apparently the woman who had given birth to the current body he inhabited had put a bit of thought into coming up with a suitably "royal" name.

"Alright...Asta." This was how he had maintained his sanity this long. He could not remember the first three years of existence within his new body, but as he grew older, the old details had come filtering back. By the time he was six, he remembered everything. But memories faded as soon as they came, as all memories did, and he found himself having to secretly keep writings on key elements of his past life. His childhood memories, his taste in tv shows, his favorite foods, and the final days before the invasion. Truth was, he was beginning to forget what Sylbia and his family looked like. 

"Eliza. Wait." Asta's eye twitched has he felt an uncanny presence loom over him. He grabbed her hand. "We have to get out of here. Now." He looked at one of the glass windows, staring into it's reflection. He could barely make out a strange man following them.

The eye of shadows, one of the few inheritances he had gotten from his father. Less of an eye and more of a feeling, but he could detect when he was getting looked at. It was nice to know he had at least one power that could help him.

"Inside." He grabbed Eliza's hand and rapidly ran around a corner. He looked around - they had left the bustling streets for a quieter alley. Now Asta could make better use of his eye, but this isolated them all the more from anyone that could help. Asta looked back - he could sense the man's line of sight, heading towards them. Another corner.

"Iwen, what's going on?" Eliza asked. "Iwen, I'm scared."

"Shh." Asta quickly ran to another corner. "Alright Eliza, you need to trust me, okay?"

"Oh...okay." Eliza nodded. 

"We'll head to the guard station where the old man is. He won't dare attack us from there."

"Got it." The pair rapidly ran through the narrow streets as fast as they could, weaving through both crowded main roads and discreet alleyways as fast as they could.

"Iwen, he's getting closer." As the distance between him and the man slowly got closer and closer, Asta could feel his hands beginning to sweat. The streets where they were now had fewer people at this point and time - large, but hardly populated.

Not like last time. Asta couldn't let it happen like last time.

"Eliza, we'll jump the fence." Asta knew the streets like the back of his hand now, and knew the barracks were on the other side of the street. He wasn't sure if it would work, but he had to try. "I'll put you up on the roof, and you'll pull me up. Okay?"

"Wouldn't that take too much time?"

"Just listen to me, okay?" There would be a way out. There would be a way out this time. 

Asta and Eliza quickly bolted over to the fence, leaving the relative safety of the street for the even more isolated alleyway. Nothing but a wooden wall separated them and safety however.

"Come on, up and over." Asta knelt down, and hoisted Eliza onto the wall, using himself as a footstool. "Now pull me up!" Eliza reached out her hands to catch Asta, but her weight wasn't enough. At that moment, he felt the vision of another gaze upon him.

"Iwen, I...I can't..." Eliza struggled to pull Asta up onto the wall, but the more she struggled, the weaker she got. "I'm not leaving you Iwen, just...jump higher..." 

Asta looked back, the man now approaching the two of them.

"Hello children." He said, with a strange expression. "You need help?" He stepped closer, yet again. 

"Piss off!" Asta yelled out, trying to intimidate the man, despite all logic dictating that it was impossible. "We don't need your help!" The man laughed, and pulled out a knife. Asta's eye tingled once more.

"Well, that's a real shame." He stopped just before the two. "Sorry kids. Nothing personal. Lady Claudia sends her regards." He raised her knife to stab Eliza, but the impact never came. As he did, a spear gored his back, causing the man to fall over and crumple onto the ground. "Why...what?"

"Uncle Aeneas!" Eliza dropped off of the wall and ran over to the man who had thrown the spear. Asta stayed back. He'd noticed the presence of Aeneas, the local commander of the regional security and a dashing man with a slight stubble. Aeneas walked over and yanked the spear out of the assassin.

"Damn bastard. Bullying children, really?" He laughed as Eliza leapt into his arms. "Alright, alright princess. Settle down. I just heard your voices in the area. You two okay?"

"Y-yes sir." Asta said, looking down at his own shoes. Aeneas laughed.

"Yes sir, yes sir. Is that all you got? I get you're an actual prince, but...phew!" Aeneas shook his head. "Now come on. Let's get you two home." He put Eliza down.

"Captain, captain!" Several lightly armored men ran over, seemingly having followed Aeneas. "Captain, sir, you really have to stop with all these acrobatics. How do you expect anyone to  keep up?" The soldier turned to the body of the assassin, and kicked it. "Another assassin?"

"That's right you are." Aeneas said, with a sigh. He knelt down and began rummaging the man for possible leads. "I bet he was sent..." He hoisted the man onto his shoulders. "...by the regent herself." The soldiers shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry for causing trouble sir." Asta said. "I...wish I could promise to never bother you again but..."

"It's alright Iwen." Aeneas walked over and patted Asta on the head. "We were getting bored anyways. Now, let's get you home. I'll have to warn your mother to be careful next time." Aeneas hoisted a giggling Eliza up onto his shoulder, and offered Asta his hand. "Well then, your highness, shall we get going home?"

"Yes sir." Aeneas's face fell as Asta blocked off the man's banter, but Asta lent out a single, trembling hand nonetheless.

~~*~~

"Aeneas! Is something the matter?" Asta watched as their mother worriedly walked over and gave the two a hug. "What...what's going on?" 

"Someone was following them. I suspect it was..." He looked down at Asta and Eliza. "...an assassination."

"An...assassin?" Kaleia's faced turned pale. "I...have they finally found us? I...I..."

"It's okay Kaleia, they're not allowed to simply walk in here and kill you." He leaned in, whispering into Kaleia's ear. "The...regent...possibility...denied..." Asta couldn't fully make out what Aeneas was saying, but something told him that they would need to move. Aeneas leaned out, and spoke to all three. "What matters though, is that I'll do my best in keeping all three of you safe. Deal?"

"Mom, what's an assassin?" Eliza asked Kaleia.

"I'll tell you later dear." Kaleia kissed Eliza on the forehead, then turned to Asta, possibly having noticed the sullen look on his face. She knelt down softly, with a look of concern in her eyes. "Iwen, are you alright?" She brushed a loose strand of hair out of Asta's face, and rubbed him on the cheek.

"I'm...I'm fine. I'm fine..." He pushed the woman away as she tried to give him a hug a second time. Who did she think she was anyways? Kaleia wasn't his real mother, and she never would be. "Get off of me!" Tears welled up in his eyes. "Don't touch me you fake!" He screamed. Kaleia walked backwards, her eyes open in shock. Even Eliza understood what was going on, and looked down at her feet in equal parts fear, shock, and sadness.

"Hey!" Asta felt a massive slap go across his face as Aeneas stepped forwards, his eyes full of rage. "Alright your highness, you've crossed the line. " This outburst of rage was somehow comforting to Asta, almost as if he was happy to get the punishment he deserved. "You don't know how much your mother sacrifices for you, do you? You don't know what she does -"

"Aeneas, it's okay -" Kaleia protested, but Aeneas shook his head.

"No, let me finish." He turned back to Asta, but Asta took the moment to push Aeneas away, and pulled down his sleeve, showing his Celestial Stigmata.

"I don't need any of you." Asta snarled. "I said, I don't need any of you!" Asta tried his hardest to hold back the tears that were flowing from his eyes, but he didn't dare stop. "I already have a family, and it's none of you. And my name's not Iwen, I'm Asta. I'm a Sigilite Celestial, so I'm going to do great things, and I don't need any of you for that!"

"Well...no, but I mean-" Though anger and panic gripped his voice, he couldn't quite bring himself to hurt the girl who called herself his sister, even if she was not Sylbia.

"Aeneas." Kaleia reached out and grabbed Aeneas's shoulder. "I...I think Iwen might have a point. He's not entirely wrong. I don't think I'm able to support someone like him." She smiled, melancholically. "Iwen's destined for the throne. An ordinary girl like me could never have been adequate for him."

"Kaleia..." Biting her lip, Kaleia turned to the two children.

"Iwen, Eliza, go to your room. I'll talk to Aeneas about all this." Despite a slightly quivering voice, she kept her composure. Kaleia knelt down in front of Asta, bringing her eyes to his level. "I...I don't know how you feel about me Iwen - or Asta, if that's what your old name was - but I still love you, okay?" She kissed his forehead, and then Eliza's. "Get back in the house, and stay away from any windows." Eliza followed the puffy-eyed Asta back into their house, and then the door was shut.