Three's a Party

“Sorry, your highness, but the king isn’t taking any visitors.”

The words echoed inside the gigantic, yet deserted throne room.

“I don’t have time for this nonsense. I am going to go see him.”

The guard who had stopped the dark-haired and lavishly dressed prince stepped into his path. “Your highness, I can’t allow it.”

Allister glared at the guard. “I’m going to see him now!” he angrily declared. He’d been waiting his whole life for this, and he was impatient to get things moving.

The guard shrunk. Then, he inhaled sharply and stood back up straight. “I’m so sorry, your highness, but I work for the king first and foremost.”

Allister audibly sighed and closed his eyes. Suddenly, his right arm shot out. He punched the guard’s helmeted head, blowing him backwards. The guard collapsed to the floor. Allister looked around at the two other guards in the room.

“Y-y-your highness!” one of them stuttered. “Your arm…”

Allister’s arm was bulging and rippling. He flexed his muscles and squeezed his fist. There it was, that familiar burst of strength. Allister smiled. He slowly shed his disguise, as the guards ogled on in horror. Eventually, he was the familiar locksmith.

It was time to begin.

***

Given the eight rules, what is the most airtight contract we can write, that will prevent the prophecy’s fallout from being countered?

I was woken up cold water splashing onto me and nearly drowning me.

“Wake up! I already told you we don’t have much time!” the king cried from what sounded like a distance.

My vision was blurry, as I fought to open my eyes. Through my dazedness, I saw the king pull back his hand.

“Wai—” I began.

The king delivered a thunderous slap across my face.

I jumped to my feet, ready to fight. “Damnit, I said wait!” I shouted, clutching my injured cheek.

“You were fast asleep, like a baby,” Alice said. There was not a hint of humour or mocking in her statement. In fact, she appeared rather miserable. Who could blame her?

“Sato Kugo, we need to get started,” the king pressed.

I nodded. I knew exactly what the old man was referring to. “Do you have any contract paper?” I asked.

“Contract paper?”

Oops. Did I misread him?

“Oh, you mean Lightwood paper? Yes, of course.” The king rushed to his desk and opened up a drawer. From it, he produced a large stack of sheets made from the Tree of Everything. Whilst the width of these papers remained that of a standard A4 sheet, their length was two to three times as long. “Now that you have the answers, what exactly should we be looking to write on here?” he asked.

I involuntarily raised my eyebrows in shock. “You mean, you don’t already have a contract written down?”

“No! Now, hurry up!”

“Why are we in such a rush? Do you even know where Allister is?” I asked, annoyed.

“Again, no! And that’s the problem. He could be anywhere. He could be in this very room. He could be her!” the king frantically said, pointing at Alice. “My God, I shouldn’t have been so casual as to allow her inside my chambers,” he cried.

“Dude, relax, she’s not Allister,” I replied. I hate to say it, but I was almost amused by the elderly man’s paranoia.

“Is that right? And why should I trust you? When your own companion, who accompanied you on your travels was replaced, you didn’t have the faintest clue, did you?” the king contemptuously retorted.

I thought back. Honestly, she did seem more level-headed and “in charge” after we left the inn. Her behaviour stands out in retrospect, but she is an experienced investigator, so it could have been her game face.

The king angrily groaned. He sat down at his desk and began scribbling something onto the contract paper.

I snapped out of my recollections. “Why write anything between us right now? We’ll wait until Allister arrives,” I said.

The king looked at me with eyes so wide, he could have passed for a cartoon character. “Have you gone mad?” he asked, calmly.

I grinned. “Just hear me out.”

***

There was pure darkness.

Allister took a step forward. He could create rudimentary black on white images in his mind, whenever he heard a noise or sensed a presence.

*clatter…*

The outlines he envisioned before him had just taken a step back.

Allister took another step forward. The guards held firm. Allister paused. Then, he took a third step forward. This time, the guards charged. They shouted and screamed as they ran forward, in attempts to alert the rest of the castle.

Allister greeted them with enthusiasm. An enthusiastic kick to the ribs, an enthusiastic knee to the chest… he brutalised the two men, despite their armour and weaponry.

Suddenly…

He could see them lying on the floor in front of him. Grey armour… marble floor.

It was a flicker of clarity through the darkness. For a fraction of a second, he could see!

Allister chuckled under his breath.

He stepped over the guards, not even bothering to arm himself wiht one of their halberds. As he walked through the throne room, a wave of guards appeared. They must have been alerted by all of the shouting.

“Hey! Who are you?” one of the guards shouted.

Allister cracked his knuckles. “I’m here to kill the king,” he said. It wasn’t prudent, since word would get back to the king who would undoubtedly make his escape. Furthermore, it simply wasn’t true. In fact, he needed the king alive.

“Put your hands in the air where we can see them!”

Allister raised his arms. The guards approached, the tips of their halberds pointed right at him. Four out of the seven encircled him.

“Alright, now—”

Allister backhanded the man in the face, knocking him back. He followed up with a left hook to the temple. The guard’s head rattled in his helmet, as he collapsed to the floor.

That’s when all hell broke loose.

Guards were screaming, attacking and retrieving backup.

Another flicker of vision, this time longer. In fact, it was thanks to it, that Allister saw what came next. One of the guards encircling him went for a stab to the torso. Allister caught the guard’s halberd and yanked on it, pulling the guard straight towards him. He proceeded to deliver a brutal jab to his attacker’s face, knocking him out cold.

Another flicker of vision… No, to call it a flicker would be inaccurate. This one would last an entire minute.

The other two guards, who were slower to react, attacked at once: one stabbed from behind, one slashed from in front.

Allister dodged the stab. He rammed his forearm into the slashing halberd’s wooden handle, parrying the otherwise lethal blow. Allister kicked backwards, catching the guard square in the chin. He swung his kicking leg into a semi-circle, planting his foot firmly into the other guard’s stomach.

The man went flying.

Allister was growing stronger by the minute.

“I don’t know how long my vision will last, so let me get rid of those three as fast as I can.”

***

We sat in silence.

My palms were sweaty and my breathing heavy.

I let out a deep, involuntary sigh.

“Stop doing that,” Alice said. Her voice was shaky.

I didn’t respond.

*BANG!*

I jumped in my skin. The door had just been slammed open by some lunatic.

“Your highness!” cried the frantic guard who had just scared the daylights out of me. “There is a man here in the throne room who is brawling with the other guards. He told us he is here to kill you!”

“Brawling? So, he doesn’t have a weapon?” the king asked.

“No, your highness, he does not. Yet, somehow, he appears to be handling himself frighteningly well,” the guard replied. “Never mind that! We need to escort you out of here!”

“No. I will stay put,” the king firmly declared.

The guard looked at him like he was crazy. “I’m very sorry, your highness, but my job is to ensure your safety. I am going to have to take you, whether you like it or not. I mean you no disrespect—”

The guard suddenly shot backwards, slamming hard into the corridor wall. The familiar face of Allister Twain took his place. He had just yanked the guard and thrown him back with one hand.

Allister’s skin was now a pale grey, and his face had transformed into one more akin to a beast’s.

That face… that skin tone… it’s just like in those strange visions.

“Kugo… Link… so good of you both to gather here today,” Allister growled through heavy breaths. His eyes were focused, as if he had regained his vision.

Allister shut the metal door behind him. We were now trapped inside the king’s chambers with a very terrifying and very sweaty demon.