He remembered her hair, golden and washed out on his rough hands as she gripped his shoulders. Her eyes were wet with tears and she trembled, begged.

"I already told you that you have to leave. It isn't safe for you here. You know what we are, and you're not meant to be a thief, Aida."

"Neither are you," she argued, small and brave. His fingers wove into her hair, admiring the way it fell over her face, and knowing it wasn't enough.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I've made it this far, haven't I? And I protected you, didn't I?" She opened her mouth to protest but he sealed it with his hand. "I'll see you again someday."

"Someday?" she spluttered. "What do you mean 'someday'? In a year? In a month? Escher-!"

He grinned and ruffled her hair, "You worry too much. I'll find you, wherever you go. Now stop talking, you're starting to act like a girl."

"Promise me," she insisted. Escher raised his hand, mockingly. "I, Escher, solemnly swear -"

"Be serious!" Aida hissed.

"Alright, alright. I promise I'll find you. It doesn't matter where you go, I'll find you. "

Escher gripped his sword and menaced a the man before him. He wasn't sure who he was, other than that he was a royal envoy, and he didn't care. His family always told him that the royal family were greedy, corrupt vagabonds who had no interest in the commonwealth of the kingdom, much less the common folk. He could only imagine that these knights intended to steal from them - the irony! Well, they were in for a surprise. They had robbed a weapons merchant just the week before and Escher had acquired a sword he was dying to try out.

"Prince, we've come to save you!"

Huh?

The return of the lost Prince. Escher still wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but he wasn't complaining. So far, he'd been draped in gold and jewels and fed to the point of gluttony. It was more extravagance than he had ever imagined. He was now seated next to some old man and a lady that kept looking over at him. It kind of creeped him out.

"Son," the old man exclaimed, patting him on the shoulder. Oh, so that was the King. And his father, supposedly. "Your mother and I are so glad to see you return safely to your home. We worried for your life all these years."

The lady which had previously been staring at him nodded in agreement. "Truly," she said. "I was beginning to fear we'd never find you."

"Yeah, whatever. When are we going to eat?"

The King laughed. "Ah, my boy, such a sense of direction - so blunt and to the point. You will make a good ruler."

A contessa winked at him from across the dining table. Escher looked away. Being here was making him feel really uncomfortable. Still, he had to stay. If he did, he'd be a Prince, and more importantly, he'd have an army to command. Now he could keep his promise.

Now he could find Aida.

I just finished playing Chaos Rings and I fell in love with it. If you're interested in this story, review and tell me :)