Bab 35: That's not something you just drop on your bro.
After the talk with Niki, Aidan was always so deep in his thoughts he barely paid any attention to his surroundings. He even forgot to complain about having to go through daily sparring session with Kai and Hayl.
"You seem distracted?" the Prince said with a smile as he managed to push Aidan on the ground with unprecedented ease.
That was an understatement of the century. All Aidan could think about were these simple five words: "I can send you back." Other than that, Niki said a lot of complicated mumbo-jumbo.
Apparently, it wasn't some freak coincidence for Aidan's soul to be transported from another world. Therefore, there was also a way to send his soul back. Some centuries ago, the savage shamans had discovered the so-called Soul Abyss – if one were to jump into it, their soul would return to the world they originally belonged in. The only problem was that at this point in history, nobody knew where this Soul Abyss was located.
Niki was however sure that there existed an old almanac that gave out the location. He only needed to get his hands on it, and Aidan could be well on his way.
"And when will that be?" Aidan had asked, a strange feeling rising in his chest.
"I'm working on it. I have figured out its whereabouts quite some time ago, but then I only saw it as a curiosity. I've already bribed someone to get it to me from the savage lands. It won't take long."
Aidan nodded, and Niki obviously took it as a sign of his agreement to leave this world as soon as possible. Aidan himself was, however, not so sure about what he had actually meant.
Did he really want to leave?
One part of him, of course, wanted to go back to those days of complete numbness and creature comforts. No annoying conspiracies, no need to pretend that his dick had been chopped off, no risk of being tortured. Only a crazy masochist wouldn't want to go back.
But a small and ridiculous voice inside his head kept nagging him. Aidan had spoken to more people in these couple of months than in the last five years of his life. He had gone days without drinking – something he thought wasn't even possible for him anymore.
Also, since he'd arrived to this world of magic plants and medieval morals, he had never relapsed. Even though the cuts on his wrists reappeared, he hadn't added any new ones. What's more, he hadn't even thought about cutting again.
Maybe, he was too busy being imprisoned and all that other very stressful stuff... But deep in his heart, Aidan knew the answer – here, in this world, he had received the chance to be free from his past. Here he wasn't the antisocial useless waste he used to be. Here he could be something more. General Adnan Minn hadn't been beaten, hadn't been molested, hadn't been abandoned... Here, in this world, Aidan could pretend that none of this ever happened to him.
But once he went back, he'd return to his usual identity and routine of sleeping till 5 pm, doing his gig at one of those shitty clubs, maybe scoring some dope, then passing out till the wee hours of the morning. And finally going to his tiny apartment. Rinse. Repeat.
Once in a while, his mother would call to ask for money. Which he obviously didn't have. He started screening her calls long ago... yet, she kept using new numbers to get to him. Wasn't that also kind of torture? Talking to that woman definitely had the same vibe as regrowing his eyeball.
Unable to understand his own thoughts, Aidan spent the last couple of days lying in bed and folding origami swans. A long time ago, a classmate told him that if he made one thousand of these swans, he could make one of his wishes come true. At the time, all he wanted was a father that wouldn't beat him up or at least wouldn't beat him up so much.
He should have been more realistic.
"Adnan, are you all right?" Kai's voice tore him out of his deep contemplation.
Aidan looked at the concerned blonde man who watched him with the kind of expression he had never seen in his previous life. Unexpected even to himself, he suddenly asked:
"Why do you treat me so well?"
The Prince seemed stunned by the question for a moment. Then he slowly lowered his practice sword and smiled: "You finally noticed?"
Aidan got up from the cold ground and rubbed his back: "And here, I thought I might sound presumptuous."
"Should there be a reason to treat someone well?" Kai said thoughtfully.
Aidan indeed firmly believed so. Only being treated like shit didn't seem to require any reason... As for anything else... There was always a motive.
"I find you interesting," the Prince finally said after a long silence when he realized that Aidan was still waiting for an answer.
"What would you do if I disappeared one day?"
"What kind of question is that?" Kai frowned.
"Can you just tell me?" Aidan's heart leaped for some reason as if what Kai would say in the next couple of minutes could decide his whole fate.
"What do you want me to do?"
Aidan was trying to come up with something non-cheesy to say when he heard the Regent call for him. He dropped his practice sword on the ground and turned to leave. Saved by the bell.
Aidan noticed a cold look that Kai shot towards the Regent. Jake habitually ignored it. After so many years, it seemed he got used to the dramatic antics of his royal nephew.
"We need to talk," Jake said when they had reached the woods behind the palace.
Aidan panicked. Did Jake find out about his conversation with Niki? Was he now angry that he didn't immediately tell him about the possibility of going back home? If so, Aidan was in a lot of trouble.
"Look, man, I'm sorry. I was just too preoccupied," Aidan started to mumble his excuses but was interrupted by Jake's impatiently waiving hand.
"I'm done listening to your lies and manipulations, and I will not tolerate this from you anymore," Jake sighed.
"What?"
"You know very well what I'm talking about. Stop playing dumb. Despite promising that you will give your best to stay clean, you keep drinking every moment you get the slightest possibility. Do you think I wouldn't know what is happening in my own palace under my own nose?"
Aidan wasn't sure which incident Jake was referring to, and at this point, it was just too dangerous to ask, so he kept quiet.
"I know that Hayl gave you wine. Consider this to be your last warning. Next time I catch wind of something like that, I will put a curse on you that will make your throat close up every time you try to take a sip of alcohol."
"There is a curse for that too?" Aidan was more impressed than scared at this point.
"You bet," Jake spat out. "I can't believe that instead of putting all my efforts towards avoiding the war, I have to babysit a childish alcoholic."
Aidan couldn't help but smile. Come to think of it, it was the first time somebody decided to stage an actual intervention for him. It was kind of sweet.
"Jakey, you're right. I won't give you trouble anymore," he said softly. And after a moment of hesitation, he decided to tell the Regent about the Soul Abyss.
Aidan wasn't sure he wanted to go back to his world, but he had no doubt that Jake would give his right kidney and a leg to be reunited with his fiancee.
"Niki told you all that?" Jake looked even paler than usual as he pushed himself against a tree trunk in order not to fall down.
"Yes, aren't you happy?" Aidan asked as he tried to see the expression in Jake's cold blue eyes.
"I...I...," Jake stuttered.
"Too elated to speak?"
"Not... exactly. I happen to know where this almanac is now," Jake sighed.
"And where is it?" Aidan asked with a feeling of impending doom.
"It's in my study. It was one of Princess Miri's gifts to me. It was delivered last week. I didn't quite understand the purpose of this book at first – it looked like a chaotic compilation of savage myths. But, according to your source, it's actually a coded map. How convenient," Jake shook his head.
"Why do you look concerned? Isn't that just good luck?"
"A little too good. Why would she ... send me exactly that book?"
Aidan didn't know what to say. He actually had a completely different concern – now that they had the almanac, he had even less time to make up his mind about staying or leaving.
"How did Niki figure out that you were not Adnan Minn? Did you say something weird to him?" Jake asked after kind of snapping back to his senses.
Aidan thought about telling him about the weird illusion he shared with Niki during the time he was tortured but, for some reason, he was too embarrassed to recount those events to Jake. Like, where would he even begin? Oh, no biggie, I just hallucinated a whole bunch about doing it with your pretend nephew. That's not something you just drop on your bro.
"He somehow saw one of my dreams. And it was set in our world. So, he assumed I was a lost soul," Aidan finally answered without giving out too much.
"He is very perceptive," Jake frowned.
"So, are you... going back?"
Jake let out a laugh which got progressively louder and louder. Until it was somewhere on the verge between hysterical and insane.
"I take it as a yes?" Aidan was very uncomfortable.
"What should I say? You have no idea how much I want to say yes. But alas...I now have to solve the cruelest moral dilemma in my entire two existences."
"Huh?"
"Go somewhere else. I need to be alone," Jake rubbed his forehead. Still confused, Aidan shrugged and left without saying another word.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
heisenberg
heisenberg Sorry, I've been MIA for a while. And I think I won't be able to return to consistent updates in the near future. But I will continue with the story nevertheless :)
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