Will of a Prince

Lidia looked at Slimo oddly and ignored his weird reaction to continue eating.

"We decided to make some food for you all to come back to. You must have learned a lot being at school all day! Tell me about it! How did everything go?"

Maria was the first to talk. Her eyes beamed at Lidia as if she had been waiting the whole school day to update her with everything she learned.

"Well, first we did something called ice breaking, except there was no ice and we just had to say a little something about ourselves. I think Luna got in trouble for thinking we were doing actual ice breaking. Anyway, we talked a lot about the history of Zalo’s and the Sacred and Profane Trio. Apparently, all of our powers were given to us by one of the Sacred. Isn’t that interesting?"

"That’s really weird. I’m going to have to thank that person one day. I’m assuming the Scared are all good people, right?"

Maria scratched her head. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Well, to be honest mom, it was all very ambiguous. I know they are called Sacred, but it’s hard to trust someone with such devastating power. Not only that, but they also teamed up with the Profanes at one point to take Zalo down."

"I see. Well, I’m glad that you are all learning some useful things at school. That means our money isn’t being wasted! What about everyone else? Do you all like school?"

Harold and Abby both shook their heads. Abby was the first to speak between them.

"It was very fun! However, I think I would rather be back on the farm. I know learning is important, but nothing beats a good harvest!"

"I’m with Abby. I missed most of the lecture, but I still didn’t feel like I belonged there. Maybe I need to do something more physical."

Lidia nodded and looked over at Lee, Steel, and Bo.

"No complaints."

"They didn’t let me cut anything."

"It was kind of boring."

Well then. Just enjoy your dinner for now and I’ll update you with everything we found out about Squabee and Sarah."

After everyone was done eating, Lidia made Doc and Lee wash the dishes.

"No hard feelings, Doc. I just want to keep your old bones strong and healthy."

Doc smiled.

"It’s no problem at all, Miss Lidia. I will do as you wish."

Lidia sat everyone down at the table again but made sure to speak loud enough so Lee could hear her while he washed dished with Doc.

"Okay, so Sarah’s power is rather simple. She has a curse ability that allows any part of her body to go invulnerable when she wishes. She will be working with Squabee to improve it in the upcoming days."

Jacob’s eyes widened. He was surprised to hear that someone like Sarah received such a versatile ability. Maria interjected before Lidia could continue.

"What about Squabee? What is her ability?"

Lidia seemed to grow a little uneasy.

"Well... her ability is a bit more... powerful? God-like? Something like that."

"God-like? What is her ability?"

"Her ability is the control over luck. She is able to defy fate and destiny, it protects her even when she isn’t controlling it, and she isn’t even supposed to exist. Actually, Squabee is something like an anomaly in this world. Isn’t that cool?"

Jacob felt dizzy.

’Not supposed to exist? God-like? When the hell will someone get a weaker power than mine! Damn you, Lorvaria...’

Maria was just as shocked as everyone around her.

"Cool? That’s terrifying! What if her power turns on us?!"

"Well, that’s the thing. The power is supposed to protect her best interests in some way I believe. If we haven’t been affected by it, it means she’s loyal enough to us for all of us to be in her best interest."

Bo raised a hand.

"But what if she decides we aren’t in her best interests? What do we do then? Can we... you know. Should we-"

"NO!"

Everyone went silent as Lidia’s voice boomed over them. She slowly sat back down.

"No. We aren’t hurting her. As much as I hate to admit it, she’s grown on me quite a lot. She never asked to be blessed with such a power. She’s told us that she finally feels like a normal person when she’s with us. I’ll be damned if take that away from. We aren’t treating her as some threat or some ticking time bomb. She is still the Squabee we all know, and if anyone has a problem with that, take it up with me."

Everyone stayed silent for three moments. However, Bo still pressed forward.

"Listen. All I am asking is what if she decides to turn on us? What can we do?"

Lidia bowed her head down, allowing her brown hair to cover her face.

"We wouldn’t be able to do a single thing. All we could do is beg her not to hurt us. We would all be at the mercy of her incredible power."

A small tension grew in the room. Bo folded his hands on the table.

"Maybe we need to keep watch on her. Just in case."

Lidia threw her head back up.

"No. I already said she is still be treated the same."

Bo stood up in his seat.

"I’m just trying to do what’s best for the noble clans. She’s a threat!"

"She is a person! Just like you and me! How could we not be considered threats?! Do you have any idea how crazy it was for her to trust us? I trust her and so should you."

"Wasn’t she the one who took you to our prison camp in the middle of a hellish wasteland? She knew what the terrain was like and yet she still encouraged everyone to push through it with no supplies prepared."

"That fault was on all of us. We were the ones who didn’t prepare."

"But she could have told you much earlier. Why didn’t she?"

"I- I don’t know. Maybe she was too focused on surviving."

Bo sighed and sat back down.

"I’m not losing someone else. You can be mad at me all you want, but I’m keeping an eye on her if you won’t. My ability is built for this sort of thing."

"What if she finds out and gets upset at all of us? You will end up killing us all."

"Oh? So, you do see her as a threat!"

"I see her as a friend. She’s only dangerous because she can’t control her power right now. Once she’s able to control us, I guarantee you wouldn’t be saying these awful things about her."

Bo stood up and started walking toward the stairs to go to sleep.

"Whatever."

When he left, no one knew what to say. Lidia eventually stood up and picked up Slimo.

"I think everyone should go to bed. We can talk more in the morning."

Maria hugged Lidia before following Jacob upstairs. Everyone else followed them soon after. Once they all reached their rooms, Lidia laid Slimo on their bed. The moment she did, Slimo woke up and gasped for air. She looked at him oddly.

"Is everything okay? What’s the matter?"

Slimo looked around the room. Suddenly, he ran towards a desk and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen from a drawer. He started frantically writing on it as sweat filled his forehead. Lidia cautiously walked over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Slimo? Is everything okay?"

Slimo panted a bit more and looked at her with fear.

"It’s... Jacob. He can’t know about this."

"What? What is it?"

Slimo showed her the paper.

"These are the words that appeared when I looked at Jacob... if I should even call him that."

When Lidia grabbed the paper and read it, her face slowly grew with dread.

"Who... who the hell is downstairs then?"

The slightly crumpled paper read:

Name: Prince of Everything

Zalo: Will of a Prince

Zalo Type: Rend

Zalo Description: This user has the power to control the will of anything and everything with a simple command. When powerful enough, nothing can withstand their authority. The voice of Zalo himself resonates within this user.

Threat Level: Providence Deity

Weakness: They are still human... for now.

Release: Error

Transformation: Error

"These last few bits were all in a strange dark text when I read them. Their information is even more chilling."

Slimo pointed towards the bottom of the page as Lidia continued reading.

[Role]: Calamitous Witness.

[Marked]: This user’s destiny has been locked. This mark feeds off of Zalo’s and others life force.

[Insatiable Hunger]: The stronger the mark grows, the hungrier the user becomes. The user is able to adapt an aspect of any creature they consume. This power slowly resets after a long period of time.

[Prince of Everything]: This user is destined to outlive everything.