"We're finally out!" Alan yelled the moment they left the colosseum.
The way out was completely crowded with the many nobles leaving from the audience, as a result taking far longer than it should have.
"Oi Lucian, I'm hungry."
"You literally said we need to save mon—"
"Shut it buddy, we're getting food."
Seemingly in a good mood, Alan skipped along the streets, eventually they reached the front of a restaurant.
"This is a bit of a weird location for a restaurant, though…" Alan scratched his cheek, then looked to his side.
On his right was a steep incline, an uphill that even the nobles avoided traversing.
"Hmm?" But suddenly, he noticed something at the peak of that hill, something approaching extremely fast.
'A carriage?' Alan thought for a moment, but no, it was way smaller, and way too fast for a carriage to be moving.
Within seconds, the object blurred into focus.
"Is that... a fucking wheelbarrow?"
It was a literal wheelbarrow travelling at a speed it shouldn't reach, inside the wheelbarrow sat two hooded figures.
Thump
Before he even processed it, the barrow slammed into him, he didn't fall, instead the barrow scooped him up before slumping him in between the two hooded strangers.
"LUCIAN!" Alan yelled.
Lucian immediately sprang to action, the moment Alan yelled, he dashed forward... and grabbed the two handles?
"Why the fuck are you pushing this thing?!" Alan screamed, trying to find balance. "Get me out of here!"
"Oh." Lucian blinked, his legs already sprinting along with the momentum.
"You moron!"
As he was bickering with Lucian, who was actively steering the wheelbarrow, one of the hooded individuals spoke.
"Who are you." Her voice was low with wariness. Alan couldn't see her face, nor could he see her eyes, her features were covered by the darkness of the hood.
'A girl?' Alan thought, despite the chaos, he struck a casual pose. "Sup ladies."
The lady didn't respond, instead, she stretched her palm out into the air.
Shimmer
From her palm, particles of yellow rapidly converged together before forming a straight sword created from pure, solid yellow light.
"Ain't no way." Alan's face quickly shifted into utter confusion and horror, whoever the hell was in front of him just pulled out a soul weapon.
Swish
She didn't allow for him to think and immediately drove her sword towards his skull.
"Shit..." Alan jerked his head back.
A thin red line spread across his cheek, slowly, a single drop of blood traced down to his chin.
"LUCIAN, STOP THE FUCKING WHEELBARROW, I'M GOING TO DIE!"
"I can't."
"WHY THE FUCK NOT?!"
Swish Swish
As Alan and Lucian conversed, the hooded lady continued her assault on Alan, who scrambled along the wheelbarrow, just barely dodging.
"Look above the buildings." Lucian said, gesturing towards the roofs of the nearby buildings.
"What the hell?" Alan cursed, following behind them were a dozen of dark hooded figures, leaping from rooftops to keep up. "What kind of shit did we just get into?"
Alan tapped his necklace, and immediately from within, a small dagger popped out.
He snatched the floating blade in a reverse grip then.
Clang
Blocked the incoming sword strike.
"Can I get some context?!" Alan yelled.
The lady paused, her sword still placing pressure against Alan's dagger, before repeating. "Who are you?"
"Why are you asking me?!" Alan's expression was that of bewilderment. "I should be the one asking! You just randomly ran me over with a god-damn garden tool!"
She hesitated, then.
Shimmer
Dismissed her soul weapon.
Sighing, Alan also returned his dagger into his necklace.
"We were escaping, why were you in the way?"
"I was in the way?!" Alan barked back. "No, who the hell even escapes in a fucking wheelbarrow?!"
"It was my idea." The second hooded figure spoke up, puffing her chest, displaying a bizarre misplaced confidence.
Alan stared at her. "In what world are you living in, that made you think it was a good idea?"
"Oh..." She shoulders slumped instantly, her mood becoming gloomy.
"Hey! Is that any way to speak to someone!" The first lady snapped, swatting Alan's arm.
"My bad..." Alan muttered, then caught himself. "No, why the hell am I even apologising!"
Rubbing his forehead, Alan asked. "First, explain what the hell is going on."
"We are escaping."
"Uh-huh."
"And getting chased."
"No fucking shit, Sherlock."
Their conversation was cut short as Alan grabbed a dagger flying towards him.
Glancing over to the side, he saw the assassins throwing daggers aimed straight towards the group.
Lucian didn't wait, with a snap of his fingers a jagged wall of ice erupted, catching all the flying blades.
"Hah..." Alan let out a long breath. "So you two need to get out here?"
Both the girls nodded.
"Alright, fuck it then." Alan raised himself upright and looked behind. "Oi Lucian, freeze all the ground in front of us."
"Got it."
Hisssss
A wave of frost surged forward, turning the concrete into glassy texture.
Alan lowered his hands to the ground, then ignited miniature blasts of flames.
Bang Bang Bang
Accelerated by the combination of slippery floors and ignitions, the entire wheelbarrow launched itself forward.
"Hold on tight!" Alan yelled.
The two girls responded in kind, by grabbing onto the edges of the barrow.
Within moments, they became a blur of black and purple flying through the streets.
...
Whoosh
Through the streets of the second district a questionable sight unfolded, the concrete floor froze, as a wheelbarrow blitz through the roads, faster than any of the carriages.
Many of the passerby didn't even have the opportunity to comprehend, all they saw was a black flash of shadow and purple flames, then a gust of freezing air.
"Right!" Alan shouted, giving directions to Lucian. "Dodge that!, go left! Uh wait what."
Alan's directions were cut off by the sight of the marble fountain in front of him, paired along with the statues of the past heros.
It was too big to dodge in time.
"LUCIAN, MAKE A RAMP!"
Acting on his command, Lucian immediately erupted a massive ramp of ice, angled perfectly towards the sky.
The barrow approached in a rapid pace, then eventually hit the ramp at full force, sending them straight into the skies.
For a brief moment the world went silent, they hung in the air having a lavish view over the districts of the capital.
But only for a brief moment.
"Oh shit." Alan whispered.
"AAAHHHH!!" The genius who planned the wheelbarrow escape screamed at the top of her lungs.
BANG
Alan acted quickly blasted a massive fire behind him, propelling the group in a straight line, over the walls of the second district and into the third.
Down below, the guard who stood at the entrance of the second district saw it all, and naturally recognised Alan and Lucian.
He watched them fly over the walls and skip along the roofs of some buildings.
"They came for a tournament, what the hell are they doing..." He shrugged and went about his day, he didn't get paid enough to care.
...
Boom
The wooden wheelbarrow exploded into splinters as Alan face planted into the ground.
While everyone else gracefully landed themselves, including Lucian, seriously why is that guy more noble looking than Alan.
"Alright!" Alan jumped up. "We did it!"
However, nobody celebrated with him.
Alan looked around his surroundings, they were within an alley.
"Okay now." Alan turned around and faced the two girls, his smiled dropped into a thin line. "Who are you two."
"And why should we tell you?"
"Are you really asking?" Alan asked back. "We just went through whatever that was, why were there people trying to even kill you."
"Tha—" Her words stopped, the second girl placed her hand on her shoulder.
"It's fine." She said.
"Hah..." The first girl sighed, then turned to Alan and Lucian. "You must never tell anyone our identities."
"It's not like we even have anyone to tell to." Alan replied.
Slowly but hesitantly, the first girl brought her hands to the hood, and lowered it.
Crimson, was the first colour Alan saw, luscious strands of crimson hair that fell just down to her shoulders.
She slowly lifted her head, revealing her eyes.
A vivid, burning golden, her eyes looked like the sun, in the centre of her eyes, her pupils were vertical resembling a reptile, it looked just like Alan's... just like Alan's?
"What...?" Alan muttered in a small voice.
The woman before him obviously caught the confusion laced behind his words.
Before she asked about it, Alan lowered his blindfold.
Her eyes widened in recognition the moment she saw his violet eyes, then widened again in confusion when she saw his vertical pupils.
"What...?" She whispered. "Why are your pupils like that."
"No, why is yours?" Alan asked.
"I was born with these eyes."
"So was I..."
They continued looking into each other's eyes, before Alan finally shrugged.
"Eh, who cares." He said.
She nodded in response, then Alan turned a questioning look towards her.
"So you're a Caelis, huh?"
"And you're a Zevril?"
"Eh." Alan shook his head. "Not exactly."
"What?" She raised a brow.
"I'm disowned."
"How...?" She asked, then begun thinking. "Alden and Alessia are currently in the royal castle, the eldest isn't even here."
She paused as if something clicked in her mind. "You're Alan?"
"Oh, you know me?"
"Well, yes." She nodded. "Alden wouldn't stop talking about you the day he arrived at the royal castle."
"That guy? Really?"
"Yup, then Alessia also couldn't stop talking about this other guy called Lucian."
"Ah." Alan smiled, then gestured towards Lucian. "Well, meet Lucian, I'm sure you heard me yelling his name a couple of times."
"Now that I think about it... you're right." She nodded, then lifted her chin.
"I am Iris Wyn Caelis, the only daughter of the duchy of Caelis." She introduced herself.
"Ah, we actually wanted to meet you for some time now." Alan nodded, then looked at the second girl.
She was tall for a woman, Iris stood at a height of about five foot seven inches, while the second lady was about five feet ten inches.
Understanding the intent behind his gaze, she too lowered her hood.
Her hair was a long beautiful blonde hair flowing down to her waist, the strands glistened in the light.
She lifted her head, and for a moment Alan caught his breath, she was incredibly attractive, maybe even the most charming woman he might have seen.
No, what's he thinking, in his mind only his mother ranks first.
But his thoughts blanked when he looked into her eyes, scarlet, deep red like blood.
For a moment, information flashed through his mind, something he remembered from the little bits of the novel he read.
Abyssal creatures and demons all had something in common.
Their eyes, all of their eyes, were a crimson red.
Alan tensed, his face hardening as he looked at her.
"I'm Julia Von Valenheart, the fourth princess of the continent." She introduced herself with a smile.
"You are the princess?" Alan asked, his voice somewhat strained.
"Yes?" Julia tilted her head innocently.
"Uh..." Alan's face slowly became confused.
His intuition wasn't warning him of anything, or even hinting she was a demon.
But how does that explain her eyes? Even the characteristics of every Valenheart was their sky-blue eyes.
"Your eyes..." Alan weakly muttered. "They look like the demons..."
Instantly, both Julia and Iris's face hardened, turning serious.
"How did you know?" Julia asked.
"Well, I've ran into one."
It was bullshit.
"But for some reason, you don't feel like a demon."
Julia slowly lowered her head and gave a small nod. "I don't know..."
"What?"
"I don't know why my eyes are like this..." Her head was dropping, and her tone quickly becoming gloomy.
Iris immediately shot a hateful glare at Alan.
'What the hell?' Alan silently asked himself, there was no way this was a demon.
"I didn't mean it like that." Alan decided to bullshit again. "I just meant your eyes were so charming..."
"Really!" Her face immediately lit up, then hurriedly averted her eyes.
'What the hell is wrong with her?' Despite thinking this, he didn't ask.