LVII: The Prince's Home

Once the meeting was finally over and everyone began to go their separate ways, Wukong had been summoned by the King to follow him. Though his gaze was on Judith, he had no choice but to do as commanded.

Stepping on the same mini Way-Point as the King, it was at once activated so they were both engulfed by an intense red light. At once, they vanished and began to soar through the sky, even though they were in the castle.

In but a couple of seconds, Wukong saw another mini Way-Point up above. Then gravity had realigned itself so they both rotated and had landed on the Way-Point feet first instead of head first.

Like last time, Wukong found the world upside down, but only for a moment before a blink had reoriented the world back to its normal axis.

Wukong took a moment to analyze the room, as he found it strange and desolate. Apart from the Light Crystals that lined the wall and a fancy chandelier overhead, there was nothing more in the room. It was just a very wide and empty space.

Looking down, Wukong's eyes widened when he found that the floor had been littered with over three dozen mini Way-points.

He at once wanted to ask himself why there were so many Way-Points in one single room, but just then, an answer formed in his head. Wukong realized — thanks to the prince's memory — that this room was known as the Way-Central, which acted as a hub room for every Way-Point.

It was then that Wukong realized how the Way-Points actually worked. At first Wukong had thought that a Way-Point was just a stone platform that could teleport a person to any other teleporting stone platforms. But as per the prince's memories, Wukong had discovered that a Way-Point was more complicated than that.

How it actually worked was like a straight line. One Way-Point was linked to only one other Way-Point, which meant that a person could move to and fro between the two Way-Points, but never to a third. It was a line A to B, with no other line connecting to them.

Which explains this very complex setup. The Way-Central acted as a storage room for the other end of several Way-Points, which in turn meant that a person could travel to multiple locations from this room alone, instead of having to dauntingly move from Way-Point to Way-Point.

Of course would one have to remember exactly which room/floor/location belonged to which Way-Point littered on the floor, else there would be a lot of backtracking. But that was not a problem for Wukong, as he possessed the memories of each location which was ingrained into the prince's head as a result of traversing the castle his whole life.

As Wukong thought, he found that the King had left his side and made his way forward with his hands at his back.

Without wasting any time, Wukong walked closer to the King and followed behind. They stopped at one of the mini Way-Points near a wall, and at once it was activated by the King, so it began to glow. Within the second, the red light engulfed them again and they began to soar. And like last time, they rotated, landed on the roof, saw the world upside down, then saw it correct itself.

Or at least Wukong felt the world was upside down, because this time around, he found himself in a small closet room, where a door stood only an inch away from his face.

At once the King pushed the door open, so the light from the outside seeped into Wukong's eyes. The King made his way forward and then took a left, so he disappeared behind the door. Wukong once more followed behind, and as he followed, he found they weren't going into another Way-Point, but were instead walking through a massive hallway that seemed to stretch on for a great distance.

The hallway was lined with doors to their left that were neatly placed in a row like lockers in a high-school hallway. Except these doors in contrast to lockers, where evenly spaced from one another.

As Wukong stared at the doors, he wasn't even allowed to wonder what was behind them, because he saw each of them opening and closing like a synchronized dance. Each time they opened, it was revealed that the inside was a small closet room, with either a single person or three people emerging from the inside, leaving behind the mini Way-Point on the floor.

It would seem this hallway was also a form of a hub for people to come to and fro within the castle.

Wukong was so fixated on these doors, that he paid no mind to view on his right. At the right side of the hallway, were rows of pillars that were connected to one another by ornate railings that protected people from fall off this height. Wukong didn't even have to see the view of the city to his right to know he was even higher above the ground.

As they continued to walk through the hall, several people had kept them company for micro seconds, when they passed them with a greeting. Several people being either maids in a rush or nobles native to the castle.

Wukong found many faces he knew thanks to the prince's memory, but yet couldn't shake the feeling off that these people were strangers to even the prince himself.

After several seconds into their walk, a voice rang into Wukong's ears, pulling his attention.

"I want to say you've been awfully quiet ever since you came back from the West," the King had said, while keeping a steady stride forward. "But by the way you acted back at my throne room, I'd say you're just fine."

"Ah, right. Sorry father," Wukong took a momentary pause when he said the word 'Father.' He knew this man before him was father to the boy who owned the body he was possessing, but calling him father was an odd feeling. Most especially because he felt the familial bond of father and son to this man. Which he did not like.

"I just, seemed to have really missed home." Wukong continued, trying to account for his odd behavior.

"You were gone only a week," the King responded, leaving Wukong slightly on guard. "You really are a shut-in aren't you son?" The King had asked with a lighter tone.

With a quiet sigh of relief, Wukong smiled and then spoke.

"It would seem I am."