Love is just a four letter word that begins with L. Just like Lust… or even Lies. Sometimes... It can be easy to get these words confused with each other.

-The Dark Prince

Naked, He saw Zoe naked.

Everything, from her legs, to the clit of her vagina, was wet, plush and ripe in vascularity.

Richard was naked as well, but Prince couldn't see his extremities. Zoe's head was in between his legs blocking his sight.

"Heh Ok!" Richard said "First one there gets to kiss Zoe!" he said taking off(Prince remembered)

There was no sound, no motion, and not even a breath from any of the three. They all stood in the same resolute silence, expecting something to happen. Zoe with her head still in between Richards legs, quivered. She could not see what was behind her, but could guess from the look on Richards face, whatever it was, was horrifying.

Prince's eyes dilated as he felt a surge of anxiety come over him. He grabbed his chest hysterically, trying to ease the pain of his aching heart. His eyes fumed, boiling with hatred and betrayal, as his lungs burned with the fever of unrequited passion. It was as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of his lungs, and had been replaced with a blistering volume of toxic ammonia.

Prince started hyperventilating. It was heavy, so heavy this feeling in his chest. It was like the weight of the world had fallen on top of his lungs.

"Aweeee not even today! Of all days!" Prince said upset.(Prince remembered)

"I take the faith very seriously!" Zoe said "Once we're married you will have every part of me…" She said, rubbing Prince's face.(Prince remembered)

"Richard and Zoe are…" Prince thought "No this isn't possible! There's no way! That… must be someone else! Richard is my best friend! And Zoe… Zoe would never even think of doing that…. She's… she's a follower of the faith!"

"Prince…" Richard said moving as slowly as possible "Listen to me…"

"Prince!!!!!" Zoe yelled. She spun around as tears rolled down her face. The drool from the heinous act she had performed, still dripping from her lips.

"AHH!" Prince screamed in despair. Seeing her face was too much for him. Up until that moment, he was still trying to convince himself, it was someone else.

Grabbing the color of arms off of Richards's banister, he grabbed a sword Richard had mounted over the door to his room.

"Prince!!!!Please!" Richard squealed "Have mercy!"

Prince looked at the sword and then to his two friends lying in bed together. As tears flooded his eyes, he dropped his head below his shoulders.

"I…I don't want to live anymore!" He said running out of the room.

"Prince!!!!!" Richard and Zoe shouted behind him.

Prince ran back through Bourbon Street then through The Garden of Faiths and then finally made it to Creatone Creek. As he stood at the top of the peak, the winds roared and the waves crashed into the peak. It was high tide now and the waters were raging, as if they were screaming the pain Prince couldn't himself let out.

"Prince!" Richard said, catching up with him.

"Stay back!" Prince said pointing the sword at him.

"Prince!!!! I'm Sorry!" Zoe said reaching for him. She was half naked covering herself with the remains of Richards's bedsheets.

Prince waved the sword at her indiscriminately.

"Be careful with that! That's an artifact!" Richard yelled.

Prince lifted the sword into the air, ready to impale himself with it.

"How long?" He screamed "How long have you two been doing this!"

"This is the first time! I swear!" Zoe said. "I didn't even want to! Richard made me do it! He said if I didn't, me and you would never be together!" She said reaching for Prince!

"That's not true!" Richard said "This was all her idea man! I didn't get blackmailed... but she made the move on me man! I'm sorry… I thought you were gonna get laid at the party! Who cares about this peasant broad?" He said shoving her onto the floor.

"What is the truth?" Prince said crying "How can I know who you two truly are?"

"If you were to love someone and it turned out the person you loved never existed were you ever in love at all?"(Prince remembered)

"Did you guys ever love me?" Prince asked

"OF course we do!" They answered in unison.

Prince closed his eyes, conflicted by the reality being thrown at him.

"Prince!" His friends called out in unison.

"I wish… I wasn't so naïve…" Prince said clenching the sword. "I wish I had eyes that could see the truth."

"Your wish has been granted" A voice said "The connection has been restored. You will be joined with the ancestor within you who also had that wish."

Prince's head fell to his shoulders like he had just been incapacitated. Dropping Richards' sword to the ground, he stood limp like a zombie. His bright blond hair became black and untamed flowing down to his shoulders, and his eyes became red, stained with bloodlust.

"You wish to see the truth? So be it! I shall give you my eye, meek descendant of mine" a voice said.

"Prince?" Richard asked, picking up his blade.

"Yes Richard?" Prince answered

"Are you ok?"

"Give me back that blade Richard"

"No, not until EEEHHHKKK" Richard yelped

Prince hit him with a strong blow to the stomach knocking him off his feet.

"You bastard!" Richard said getting up.

Armed with his sword he dashed at Prince in a berserk rage aiming to tear him limb from limb.

Swinging his sword in rage, Richard made a go for Princes arm bringing his blade down hard and fast.

No luck.

Prince didn't even flinch. Swiftly stepping to the side, he outmaneuvered Richard's blade with ease, leaving Richards's right side completely open

"Fool!" Prince yelled

With one blow to his kidney, Prince utterly obliterated Richard leaving him crying in agony on the floor.

"You never once cared about me did you Richard..." Prince said laughing "You only hung around me for clout, you climbed through the ranks quickly because I was your friend. But that wasn't enough for you was it?" Prince said, stepping on Richard's neck. "Was it!"

"ERRGGGG!" Richard groaned. "Who who is this guy! The Prince I know has never even thrown a punch!" He thought

"Zoe, she liked you, and here I was wasting a perfectly good piece of flesh like her? I should have just laid her and kicked her to the curb right? They'd never let me marry a peasant anyway? Our relationship was never going to work. I bet you thought by boning her you were doing me a favor? Didn't you?"

"Prince!!" Zoe said cowering in fear. "I'm so sorry! I was forced to do it! He… he made me do it! I'll never leave your sight again! I'll do anything you want! I'll even suck your dick right now if you want!" She said tearing down Prince's trousers

"Insolent wench!" Prince said smacking her across the face.

"You finish snobbing on another man's genitals and then you have the nerve to touch mine? You're a disgrace even to whores! Lying to me that he forced you! You're 10 times worse than he is!"

"Prince… I didn't mean to..." Zoe

"Bullshit! Firstly let's start with your blouse! It wasn't ripped? It was tossed on a chair! As if you had taken it off as soon as you opened the door! You think you can deceive me, woman?

"Secondly you said to him earlier "You can't keep the room clean for one day?" Meaning you had been there cleaning it the night before!"

"Thirdly… and this is the most sickening, Richard isn't all that attracted to you that's no secret! So I bet you the only thing he forced you to do was force you to give him head before he laid you! Am I right Richard? Prince said. The growing animosity from his red eyes seemed to poor out in a haze. A haze that was turning the beautiful essence of the cliff on Cretonne peak, into a demonic burial ground...

"Who… who are you?" Richard asked.

"I've been asking myself who you two are… but with these eyes now I can finally see… I can see who you truly are." Prince said

"Richard! You're a poor bastard who can't get any ladies to sleep with you! So you figured she was the best you could do! After all she gives you head every night! You can't beat that!" Prince laughed

"And you my dear" he said looking at Zoe. "I don't know what to think of you." "I can tell by the chocolates and all the hours we spent together that you really did feel something for me… maybe even loved me… But I was never attractive to you… No you wanted a big strong man like Richard to lay you down!" Prince said stepping on Richards's neck

"Ahh!!!" Richard screamed

"No Prince I never!" Zoe squealed

"It's… its ok" Prince said, walking to the edge of the cliff. His long black hair shriveled up into its normal form, and his eyes slowly returned to blue, as he came to his senses.

"It's really all my fault anyway…" Prince said softly.

"Everyone warned me about you, I just didn't believe them… I... I guess I thought I loved you…" He said. "But I didn't. I never knew who you truly were, so I could have never loved you… I just wish I could have stayed in that ignorance forever" Prince said as a tear ran down his cheek. Taking another step backward he came within an inch of falling off the peak.

"PRINCE!!! STOP!!!" Zoe cried

"I'm… no longer a prince." Prince said "Soon I will be dead… I'll have no fame, no fortune and no Bourbon name behind me… I'll just be a Corpse at the bottom of the sea…" Prince said.

"PRINCE!!" Richard yelled

"I wonder Zoe… when I've lost everything... will you still love me then?"

Impaling himself with Richards's sword, Prince fell into the waters below, crashing into the relentless tides.

"PRINCE!! Zoe said weeping reaching out to Prince as he disappeared into the sea.

"Godammnit this is all your fault!" Richard "You just couldn't sleep alone knowing Prince was going to have some other bitch tonight!" Richard yelled

"What do we do now?" Zoe said crying

"We get as far away from the castle as possible! If they find his body with my sword we're as good as fucked!" Richard said crying

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The sound of a catapult going off came from Bourbon Castle. Within moments the entire castle was filled with flame.

"What the hell is going on?" Richard yelled

Inside the castle, a battle took place in between the flames and bursting gunpowder.

"Good God! They really were the 13 swords of Wudon!" The eccentric gentleman from earlier gasped in awe. He watched as the band of musicians now armed with staffs and swords, took down knight after knight in an endless slaughter.

As one of them approached him he held out his hand. "Erm… knee hao… I'm Sir William De Bourbon. I'm quite the big fan of Wudon! Name your desire and I will grant it!" He said earnestly

The swordsman gave the man a strange look, perplexed by his horrible pronunciation of Mandarin.

"Bonsoir Monsieur" The swordsman said in perfect French taking a bow.

For a moment, he portrayed an impeccable stature of chivalry. The elegance in which he spoke, showed the high level of intelligence behind his blood stained sword.

"Meilin play us something beautiful" He yelled to a female assassin behind him.

Seething her violet sword, she took out a lute, playing a soft melody with it.

"Since you are a fan, I'll have to sign you an autograph" He said drawing his blade. "I'm afraid I don't have a pen… I've no choice but to use my sword instead."

"Wait! Please have mercy!" Sir William cried grabbing the man's leg begging for his life.

"You should be honored" The man said kicking Sir William off his leg. "You are witnessing our greatest performance."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sir William cried as the man hacked away at his body to the soft melodies of the lute.

"My own brother" King Bourbon said, sword interlocked with Godefroi. At the top of the burning castles they were deadlocked in battle.

"I warned you," Godefroi said, "The people would never accept a non-religious king! "I told you to outlaw Catholicism, and kill all those who rebelled against you! Now you have been betrayed by the nobles and the fanatics'' Godefroi yelled

"How could you do this?" King Bourbon said "On Prince's 18th birthday of all days!" King Bourbon said

"That my brother… Is the only thing I regret! You fool!" He said thrusting his brother down.

Raising his sword above his head, Godefroi's eyes began to glisten, turning into a bright pigment of gold. His hair flowed down his shoulders as it changed to blond, like he had died his hair in gold melt. His sword slowly began to shine brightly, emitting a bright beam from its tip.

"Holy Ray! " Godefroi cried, slicing his brother's head off with a ray of light that came out of his sword.

Retracting his glowing sword of light, Godefroi stood over his brothers corpse looking at the carnage he had unleashed on the castle.

"Love always starts in bliss and ends in betrayal" He said, drawing back his sword. "All one can do is pray their death comes before that betrayal does. It is only a mother's love that is unconditional. The love of man is as fickle as the weather. One day they sing your name in songs, the next, their chanting for your death at the gallows. One who chooses to rule by love will always be betrayed, for betrayal cannot come from one you do not love."

"I ask you now brother! The same question I have always asked you! Is it better to be a King who is loved? Or a King who is alive?!"

Prince came to barely opening his eyes. As he tried to regain consciousness he felt a heat covering his whole body that radiated from his stomach.

"Ugh" Prince groaned, wiping his forehead. "Why... am I so hot…?"

He was barely able to move, his body was in so much pain he could barely think.

"Well you're a lucky bastard aren't ya" A man said standing above him.

"Where… where am I?"

"That depends on your perspective" The man said laughing "Some would say you're in the Wolves Den, the base of some of the most notorious, cold hearted bastards in all of France."

"But personally, I would say you my friend, are in a load of shit, and quite a large load to be frank."

"What do you mean" Prince said looking around "Why does my stomach feel so"…

"No no no don't look down!" The man shouted

Prince looked down, finding a sword protruding out of his stomach. His intestines were wrapped around it like tree vines, acting as its seethe. In the center of the swords hilt a black eye stared back at him

"You chosen descendant…" The sword said "Release me from this prison! And give your soul to darkness!"

Prince passed out, traumatized by the image of the dark blade.

"For Christ's sake...I told ya not to look down…" The man said shaking his head

"Alphonse...The boy he's woken up?" A man said entering the room. He drew back his large trench coat that dropped down to his ankles retrieving a bottle of whiskey. His long flowing white hair, although not as long as the trench coat, was a sight to behold as it gracefully moved with his steps. The sideburns that ran down his face, were much thicker than the average mans, in fact they seemed to be not of a man's at all. With his pointed nose added to this combination of hair features, he seemed to have the countenance of a wolf, or at least a man as cunning as one.

"Lord Lindor, what are you doing here?" Alphonse asked

"It's not every day you find a boy in noble clothes covered in blood with an artifact impaled in him do you?" Lord Lindor remarked. "There are only two possibilities, he's a noble, or he's a thief from Saturdays Massacre."

"What are we going to do with him?"

"That all depends on his answer. And whether we can retrieve that artifact from him or not."

"But 10 of our men tried to pry it out of his body and were warded off by that eye inside of it! The sword is cursed I tell you! To hell with it and the boy!"

"Alphonse, are you afraid of the dark?" Lindor asked looking into his eyes.

"Not quite… but I am terrified of black eyeballs of darkness! As well as surgeries that involve, unwinding a child's intestines from the hilt of a sword! Might I remind you I'm a doctor! Not an exorcist!" Alphonse said

"When this boy wakes I want to talk to him alone, if he dies before then, I will hold you personally responsible. I've already fed one man to the hounds this month, let's not make it 2."

"What! You don't honestly expect me to fix this situation do you?"

"Indeed I do, your fates are now intertwined, I guess you can say that boy isn't the only one who found himself in a lump of shit" Lindor chuckled walking away

"Just my luck!" Alphonse said. "I was supposed to spend my new year's a happy drunk… Now I'm stuck babysitting a kid with a cursed sword in his gut… God can you hear me! Is this your revenge for me not attending church this morning?"

Lindor made his way up the stairs thinking about the strange encounter.

"The night after a massacre… a boy with a cursed sword appears…Rumors from my men said they heard a voice when they touched the sword… a voice that claimed to be the Dark Prince. Who is this Dark Prince? And what is he doing in the sword? Or is the real Dark Prince…"

"The boy?"