Will of a Prince

Leo struggled to open his heavy eyelids. His entire body felt it had been shredded into thousands of pieces. A rank smell filled his nostrils as he gauged his surroundings. He was laying down in a small pile of trash in an alley. Tiny rats started scurrying away as he struggled to sit up.

"Where... am I? What the hell happened?"

Leo rubbed his eyes and looked around himself. There was no one else in the alleyway except for himself. He rubbed his disfigured face lightly.

"So, it wasn’t a dream. That really happened."

Leo slowly stood on his feet. Each step he took made him limp. He slowly staggered out of the alley into a crowded street. All of the civilians passing by ignored him.

"What the hell is with you people?! I am your king! Someone, come over here and help me!"

This declaration only earned him a few crazy glances from passersby. One lady in particular started walking up to him.

"Finally! A lady with some common-"

A loud slap rang around the street. Leo’s cheek burned from the attack.

"Quit making a scene! You’re scaring the kids! Go somewhere else if you’re going to act crazy!"

Leo stared up at the woman dubiously while holding his cheek.

"Madness... THIS IS MADNESS!" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Suddenly, a massive man wearing an apron shadowed over Leo holding a large club.

"Is this man being a problem Miss?"

Leo gulped and scurried back into the alley before the issue could escalate. He started heavily panting while leaning on a wall.

"This can’t be happening. This is MY kingdom! Why isn’t anyone obeying me?!"

He kicked up a large muddle of water that ponded around the trash pile. As the surface calmed, he looked as his reflection somberly. His face was extremely swollen, his body was round and plump, his facial hair was overgrown, and his hair was beyond a mess. He gently touched his face.

"...when was the last time I saw my reflection? Is this really what I look like?"

After slouching down on the ground and hugging his knees, he heard light footsteps sound behind him. He flinched and turned around, expecting the big man to be back for revenge. However, he was not met with the man he angered. Instead, there was a woman with a strange disease on her face, causing its shape to be disfigured slightly. Even though he couldn’t help it, Leo felt repulsed by her and backed away lightly.

"Get away from me, monster!"

The lady continued lightly walking towards him, reaching into her robes.

"I don’t have anything of value! Don’t hurt me!"

Instead of the lady pulling out a weapon, she pulled out an apple. It was slightly dirtied from being stored in her robes, but it still looked tantalizing, nonetheless.

"Eat it. You must be hungry."

Leo stared at the apple suspiciously for a few moments.

"What the hell is this? Some sick attempt at poisoning me?!"

Suddenly, the lady brought the apple to her mouth and took a small bite.

"Not poisoned. Food."

Leo looked at the apple once more. His stomach rumbled slightly staring at it. He slowly grabbed the apple from her grasp and took a bite. It was delicious. Leo wasn’t sure he had ever tasted something so sweet and savory in his life. He devoured the apple almost instantly. The woman loomed over him as he ate. He stared back up at her while wiping his face.

"What do you need from me? Why did you help me?"

"Because you are one of us now. You may have been a king before, but now you are a Struggler."

"A... Struggler? What’s that?"

"It’s what we call the people beyond poor."

She pointed to her disease-ridden face.

"The people like me who, no matter how hard they try to get a job or work, they will never make a cent in their life."

Leo’s heart dropped slightly.

’People like this really exist?!’

"But... why can you not work? Surely, someone must hire you at some point."

"It’s quite simple. No one wants to be around or be seen with people who look like us. It’s bad for business, it’s bad for fellow workers, and it’s bad for their image."

Leo ran his fingers through his hair.

"Are you saying that I have to live like this the rest of my life?!"

"The faster you accept that fact, the better off you will be. Trust me. Not everyone can handle such a burden. Quite a few of us lose hope too often."

The implication of what she meant weighed on Leo’s shoulders.

"I still don’t understand why you would help me. I was your leader, I could have enacted programs for you people, I could have fixed you all, yet I sat in my palace in blissful ignorance. Do you not resent me for what I did?"

"What good is there resenting someone who no longer exists?"

Leo gave the woman a puzzled look.

"I still exist though."

"Yet, you accepted an apple from a Struggler. Are you sure the king of Iron Kingdom is still inside you? The king I knew wouldn’t have merely talked with one of us."

Leo finally understood what she was implying.

"No. He wouldn’t have."

"Then my point stands. So, who are you?"

Leo looked at his reflection once more.

"I’m Leo Strong."

"You are incorrect."

Leo looked at the woman confused and deeply sighed.

"I am... nobody."

The woman nodded her head.

"It seems you are catching on faster than the others normally do. You must accept that you are forever separate from this world from now on."

Leo pushed his hands to the ground and anger.

"I refuse."

The woman looked at him with an expertness gaze.

"Pardon?"

Leo stood up on his feet and threw a fist into a stone wall. The strike damaged his fist, but the wall was slightly destroyed from its force.

"I said, I refuse!"

His breathing quickened.

"This is not something you can simply refuse. It something you must accept and learn to live with."

Leo shook his head.

"No. You aren’t Strugglers... you are all LOSERS!!"

For the first time since meeting, the woman showed a hint of emotion in her face. She became deeply curious what he was talking.

"You’re all either given or born with this disadvantage at life. You can’t ever find jobs, you have to live penniless, and your health will forever be at risk. Yet, instead of fighting against it, you all roll on your backs and accept your fate!! That’s how losers think! If the world throws you down, you throw the world down. If the world curses you, you curse the world. Why would you ever give into such a depressing lifestyle?! You know why people never feel bad for you people or help you out? It’s because you keep accepting how the world is supposed to be without ever daring to change it! Sure, change can be scary, it can even be painful, but without ever trying to change, you are dooming yourself to repeat this same cycle of worthlessness!!"

The woman stared at Leo dubiously.

"But what the hell would I know? I’m simply a nobody, right?"

A faint smile appeared on the woman’s face.

"I would like you to meet the others. Please follow me."