Will of a Prince

"Damn it..."

Jacob slammed his foot in the ground and threw a massive punch into the bug’s hard shell. Its carapace cracked under the force, sending it flying back a few feet. Jacob held on to his damaged arm. He looked over at Maria who was still reeling from the first attack. However, she failed to see that the bug was still moving, even with the spear lodged in its neck. Maria screamed and grabbed the spear behind its head, trying to push the creature’s mouth away from herself.

"MARIA!"

Jacob prepared to take off towards her, but the bug he had just shook off wasn’t done with him yet. It grabbed hold of him again and tried biting into his leg. Jacob wrestled it to the ground trying to get around its neck for a quick kill. Meanwhile, Maria was desperately trying to push the giant beetle’s maw away from her face. However, it was slowly overpowering her. More and more blood gushed out of its neck and on to Maria’s face while she held on to the spear with everything she had. Her arms were giving out, her heart pounded against her ribs, and her breathing slowed down.

Three moments of struggling passed before Maria couldn’t hold it anymore. Her arms gave out under the weight of the bug. However, it seemed like the creature had finally lost too much blood from the wound Jacob had given it. Its body collapsed on top of Maira while her calloused hands continued to grip her spear.

As Jacob wrapped his arm around the creature’s neck, he discovered it was far too thick for him to snap. He had to think of another way to kill it and quickly. He Maria get squashed by the beetle off in the distance.

"Screw it!"

He bit deep into the neck of the monster, taking out large chunks of its flesh and spouting inky blood all over the ground. Instead of swallowing it, he spit out his first bite and continued chomping on its neck until its head was completely severed from its body. Without wasting any time, he took off towards Maria before its tall body could even fall to the ground.

Jacob walked up to the massive body of the beetle laying on Maria and shoved it off of her. He held her face while helping her sit up.

"Maria. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did it get you?"

Maria stared into her palms for a few moments before looking at the dead creature.

"I... I think I stole your kill."

Jacob stared into her eyes while she looked away.

"Did it cut you at all?"

Jacob’s blood rained out of his arms and began to paint Maria’s skin red. She looked at his arm next, her face slightly embarrassed.

"I’m okay. It didn’t have a chance to get me."

Jacob sighed before standing up.

"That was way too close. We need to get you back to everyone else so you can be safe. I’ll go back fetch some more water."

Maria stared at the shards of the broken water bins on the ground.

"But... the bins are-"

"I can make more. No need to worry about me."

Jacob stood up slowly and limped his way back towards the river. However, after a few steps, he stumbled and fell on the ground.

"Jacob?!"

Maria walked over to him and studied his battered body. He needed medical attention as soon as possible. Maria cursed under her breath and grabbed his arm. She wasn’t sure how far she would be able to drag him. She hadn’t tried moving anything heavy since she had lost her power. However, as she grabbed hold of Jacob and tried to move him, his body moved a lot easier than she had expected. It wasn’t nearly what she used to be capable of, but it was a noticeable difference in strength.

’My curse mark does work. So, it really did count that as my kill because I grabbed on to my spear as it was pushed into its throat.’

In no time at all, Maria hurried back to camp with Jacob being dragged behind her in a bloody mess. Sarah saw them first and dropped her cooking utensils to run over and help Maria. She grabbed Jacob’s body and threw him over her shoulders.

"Lidia, Jacob has gone and gotten himself into a mess again. Want me to get Slimo’s sword ready again?"

Lidia sighed heavily watching Jacob be thrown next to the fire lifelessly.

"He better not complain about the pain. I just warned him about this. These kids never learn a thing. We really need to find a doctor."

After thirty minutes of Lidia’s cauterizing procedure, Jacob’s body had stop bleeding and was brimming with more scars. Lidia shook her head and walked back over to Slimo, lifted his neck up slightly, and laid his head back in her lap.

"Men are so stubborn sometimes."

She looked over at Maria who was awfully quiet since she had gotten back. She refused to look at anyone in the eye, including Lidia.

"Is something wrong, Maria?"

Maria jumped hearing her name. She looked at Lidia then turned her head away in embarrassment.

"Well... yes. Me and Jacob kind of got into a small fight."

Lidia nodded her head.

"I see. Did you two figure things out?"

Maria rubbed her arm.

"Not really. On our way back to camp with some water, we were attacked by a few creatures. Even though we had just argued, even though I said some mean things to him, he still saved my life. He really pisses me off sometimes."

Lidia chuckled softly.

"Boys are impossible to understand my wonderful daughter."

Maria hugged her knees while staring into Sarah’s small fire.

"Mom, do you think Jacob is any different than the person he was in Iron Kingdom?"

Suddenly, Lidia’s face turned more serious. She laid her hand across Slimo’s forehead gently before answering.

"Do I think Jacob is different? Well, he certainly acts different compared to the prince I used to know."

"I know but... I’ve noticed it a lot since we have left Iron Kingdom. Sometimes, it feels like that part of Jacob is still there with him. I’m struggling to understand if I’m okay with that."

"Can you be a bit more specific?"

"Sure. For example, he saved my life just now. However, I think he saved my life more for himself than for me, like that surprise attack was some sort of challenge for him to overcome rather than an emotional response of distress. ’Save Maria, kill both of the enemies, if I was strong, this should be no problem!’. Sometimes it feels like he only loved me because of my strength, but now I am not strong anymore. Afterall, all a weak person does is hold back a strong person."

Lidia nodded her head.

"I see. I’m curious, do you still love Jacob?"

Maria stared at Lidia in shock hearing the question.

"Of course, I still love him! It’s just... back in Iron Kingdom, we both made a promise to each other to bury our past selves to become new people. However, it feels like neither of us are living up to that promise we said to each other."

"That’s quite a big promise to make. I understand why you’re so conflicted."

Lidia began to play with Slimo’s hair delicately before speaking again.

"However, do you both really have to change?"

Maria’s eyes widened.

"If we don’t change, then how can we better ourselves as people?"

"And how do you plan on changing yourself? Throwing your past self away like it’s trash? Pretend like that you never existed before a certain point your life? Run away from who you really were?"

Maria remained silent listening to Lidia’s words carefully.

"You don’t change by running from your past, Maria. You can’t change without accepting that the person you used to be was once who you were. Unfortunately, that also means that person will always be a part of you, no matter how far you run and no matter how much you try to forget."

Maria stared back into the fire.

"So, the thing you should be asking yourself is if you can see who Jacob really is and still love him. So, can you?"

Maria remained silent, staring into the fire while her mind thought deeply about Lidia’s words. Would she still love Jacob despite him being constantly being hungry for power? Could she see past his flaws and still love him for who he truly was? Could she love every part of him and not just his good side? Which side was it that made Maria fall in love with him in the first place?

Lidia raised a finger and looked at Maria who was clearly struggling to find an answer.

"Just remember, Maria. There is no such thing as a perfect person. Do you think Slimo and I love each other because I do stuff like this to him sometimes?! Absolutely not! I yell at him all the time and he still loves me regardless!"

Maria nodded her head.

"I think... no. I know that I still love him."

She stared back at Lidia with a much firmer expression.

"I’m still deeply in love with Jacob, mom."

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