Inside a hemispherical building, a man in his late 20's could be seen typing on a floating keypad, his eyes focused on the hologram floating before him.
"What in the void? Devil's Playground will have a moratorium placed on it?" He shouted with disbelief, drawing the eyes of his coworkers.
"Why are you shouting, Kiaus? That announcement was made yesterday." A younger person asked, amused at his reaction.
"Anyways, our shifts are about to end. Let's go to the nearby hedobar. The company is going to be closed for a few days," the youngster added, his face hiding a slight rue.
The two colleagues went out, quickporting to the enterprise's exit. Both of them worked as graphic designers for the Goman Games World Limited, the creator of Devil's Playground, one of the most popular games in the 22nd century.
The pair left the buliding's vicinity. The streets were replete with various establishments, all using different techniques to get traction. A particularily bold advertisement caught their eyes. It showcased a group of elgant ladies dressed in flamboyant and daring attires.
"They need to tone these ads down, kids walk through here." The younger of them said as they walked past the building.
"No they don't, Reuman. This is a protected adult's zone— , " suddenly a bead of sweat ran down his forehead as the sight in front settled in. A masked man with an eccentric handgun had his hands pressed on the activation button, the gun aimed straight at his head. He crouched as fast as he could.
For a moment he thought he had saved himself but a sudden sharp pain in his head proved him wrong. Gasps and shouts sounded as the passersby exclaimed in horror. Alarms began to blare out and Defbots started to rise out of the ground near the streetlights. One of them maneuvered at lightning pace as three cubes shout of its hands trapping the shooter.
Kaius was sprawled on the ground, copious amounts of blood oozing out from his wound. The experience was excruciating to the point where he felt death would be better. His coworker was trying to talk to him as he waited for the emergency health units to arrive.
Kaius' eyes began to lose life as they closed more and more, the distant noises and shouts fading out. Pure darkness subsumed his vision as his consciousness ceased.
•••••
After what seemed like an eternity, his consciousness accumulated again. His eyes parted open tardily. His gaze shifted through the surroundings. He was in a intricately decorated medievel room, a huge chandelier with bluish light on it hanged directly above his head.
"Is this heaven? It feels vintage." He muttered and soon realised his voice felt odd, more weaker and effeminate.
"Wake up, your highness." A voice sweet as honey permeated his ear from outside the room.
He slowly pulled himself up. "Highness? I must have done some great deeds to have become a royal in the afterlife. I knew it." The man smiled to himself shamelessly.
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His monologue was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. An adolescent girl with luscious brown hair entered the room.
"Your highness, the royal court is about to begin in some time. Your father, his majesty has summoned you to be present there." She said in a respectful tone, her eyes hiding worry for him.
"Certainly. Before that, could you bring me an atlas of the region?"
"As you wish, your highness." The girl replied, baffled by his politeness.
She soon left the room.
"This is not heaven, I have been reincarnated." Kaius said to himself as he assesed his body. He got down the bed and went near a small mirror.
It reflected an androgynous youngster with long dark hair and red eyes. His skin was unblemished and seemed to glow in the sunlight falling in through the window.
"Sheesh! I look like those synthetic models." Kaius uttered as he could not help but admire himself. Quite a narcissist, he was.
As someone who had declared his life to be the most boring on planet earth and mars, for that matter, the excitement of his reincarnation overcomed the dissapintment of death. He was finally out of that shithole and a new adventorous life as a prince awaited him.
"Here is the atlas you asked for, your highness." The maid entered the room and handed him the atlas.
Their hands brushed past each other which flushed the face of the maid. She had been working as his maid for years and had thus gotten very attached to him. She didn't dare to act on her feelings however.
Kaius noticed the redness of her face. "I am too charming, aren't I?" He thought shamelessly as he told her to vacate the room.
She did exactly that. The now lone reincarnater opened the book reading through its pages one after another. And what he see made him pinch himself.
"Aerthys kingdom? Isn't that a kingdom in Devil's Playground?" This connection astonished him. "No wonder the style felt familiar!," he added, connecting the dots.
This revelation was not a pleasant one. Devil's Playground was famous for its notorious difficulty, some called it "a sadist's haven". As a graphic designer who had assisted in its making, he could not agree more.
A sudden thought struck him. The maid had said he had to arrive for the court in a while and while his attire was nothing to scoff at, he should probably donn something more
formal.
•••••
The grand palace's hall was adorned with iluminating crystals shimmering in soft blue light. The entire place seemed ornate, and the nobles present there— even more so.
Kaius walked through the room drawing the attention of the seated individuals. There appeared to be a strange apprehension in their gaze and some, he noticed, staring at him in hostility. This confused him.
"As far as I remember, no major political intrigue was brewing in Aerthys. At least it didn't involve the current me."
His thoughts were broken by a high pitched voice that called out to him. "Prince Arin, you are quite late."
He looked towards the source, it was a boy slightly older than him. He said it with a seemingly affectionate voice but his expressions showed something else.
"It takes time to dress appropriately, royal brother." He replied staring mockingly at his attire.
This was actually one of the characters he had seen being designed, the crown prince of Aerthys.
"Let's see if you are able to keep that hubris after the court ends." The crown prince sneered in a low voice.
Before kaius could say anything, the announcement of the king and queen's arrival was made. All the people stood up in unison, lowering their heads slightly.
The royal couple entered, accompanied by various advisors and figures of authority. The nobles present inside all bowed their heads, their voices syncing perfectly as they cited "Your Majesties and their advisors, your union blesses us all. We stand in your service."
Their heads remained lowered till the figures took their respective seats. Thereafter the stentorian voice of the king reverberated through the hall,"Let the affairs of the realm be heard. Court is in session."
A burly man stood up from his seat, his tall frame radiating authority.
"Your majesty, as the realm is aware, the luminous sage Nicolas, from the holy church, has arrived in our kingdom and a discovery forced him to appear in this court today. The rest, he will announce to the court himself." The voice of the man was ferocious despite his humble tone.
A elderly figure entered the courtroom. He was wearing a white robe and his hands held onto a violet gem. The shrill voice of the sage echoed in the court.
"O righteous king Raphael, this lowly messenger of the almighty lord is here on this fateful day to relay a most pertinent intell. The gem in my hand is the prized possession of the lord's servant, the nexus of augury," as this was heard, visible tension could be noticed on the people's face. The nexus of augury was a gem infamous for its divinations which were most certainly destructive.
The sage held up the gem chanting a cadence in an arcane tongue. The gem started to shimmer in iridescent incandescence. It showed an astral projection, a syzygy.
"These are the prime star's positions during the birth of prince Arin, it forms the figurine of a taurus, an ominous omen seen once in a century. However heartbreaking this maybe but this follower of god has to tell you the impliactions. A person born in this star projection is fated to be the harbinger of doom wherever he might tred." The announcement was a shocker, for some at least.
"Forgive this lord for doubting the church's prognosis but is this information really accurate?" The king questioned with an unreadable expression as if this promulgation that could destroy his child's future barely mattered to him.
"I understand your worries for your child but for the protection of the people it is imperative that you abandon familial affection and think with your citizen's wellfare in mind. It is heartwrenching but the fait accompli is that your child is the portent of destruction." The sage replied in a calm voice.
Meanwhile Kaius stood dumbfounded at the event that were unfolding. "This was not in the script! What's going on?"
Out of the blue, the queen adressed the sage.
"O the luminous sage of the holy church, we understand. Our love for our child is boundless yet within bound. Our subjects' fate matters to us more. With a stone heart I announce that prince Arin will be sent off to the forest of Rokaal, never to return again."
Her words were like spikes of shock to the people present there. Everyone knew how dangerous the forest of Rokaal was, even some adventures feared to venture into it much less a prince with no magical or physical prowess.
"Damn! This bitch is really scheming. Child? You aren't Arin's mother, you are instead the killer of his mother." As someone who had helped design and spent innumerable hours playing Devil's Playground Kiaus knew how twisted this queen was. The king of Aerthys loved Arin's mother more than anyone else and out of jelousy and thirst for power the then concubine Malisha had colluded with her brother, the very person who had brought the sage here, to defame her as a licentious cheater.
This led to her being demoted after which Malisha killed her and eventually became the queen.
As Kaius was cursing her entire lineage, the queen's brother said while feigning a pained expression,"It is truly disheartening that the prince we all used to adore is a person with such destiny. I pray to the lord that our kingdom recovers from his loss."
"Like sister, like brother. What do you mean loss? I am not fucking dead, arsehole!" Kaius sneered in his mind at the ludicrous situation.
Suddenly his lips arched upwards as his mouth parted,"This prince apologizes for interrupting the court. I wish to say that I will uphold her majesty's discussion but my care for our kingdom's people is beyond just this. If I can cause such havoc to the kingdom then I am afraid my belongings and affiliated setvants are doomed to have been effected by my curse. I will bear the difficulty to evacuate them from the kingdom with me."
To kaius, it was best that he go out of this kingdom anyway but doing that alone would be tremendously arduous. Once he reached the forest of Rokaal there were piles of oppurtunities and treasures waiting for him.
The queen couldn't say anything and had to agree. It was decided that 2 carriages, 5 labourers and 3 servants would leave together with the king.
•••••
In the meanders of a bucolic terrain, 2 carriages traversed throught the curves. The faint humm of the zephyrs combined with his steady breaths. The scent of the mystical grass outside adding a touch of freshness to the air.
Prince Arin or Kaius looked out of them admiring the view outside, some of it was his own creation after all, the landscapes of the game most beloved by the 22nd century folk.
"Tomorrow starts the oddysey of prince Arin unto the heights of this plane.