Fallen Prince

"Arthur! Great! Good morning. Don't call me that… especially at school. Hey, are you okay? You haven't been texting me back. I assumed you'd forgotten how to use a phone. I have a lot to tell you. So you better get to the Sorting ASAP," Darius's voice came out in short bursts of syllables that Arthur remembered all too well. A habit his friend has when excited.

"I'm fine, Dar. And what do you mean by 'forgotten how to use a phone'? Also, isn't the Sorting in like…" he eyed his wall clock, "…four hours?"

"You can't possibly plan to come at the exact time of the Sorting. That's just madness," the voice on the other side of the phone scoffed, dismissing his first question.

"Yeah, madness indeed. I also have something to tell you… so where shall we meet? I doubt we'll be stopping by our old classrooms in Alcove," Arthur mentioned.

"Of course not. That introductory year in Alcove was long enough as it was. This year, we'll finally be able to go to…"

"Barthlorn School of the Supernatural," Arthur completed his best friend's sentence, "We both know that, Dar. I meant to ask where we shall meeting within Barthlorn."

"How should I know? You know that castle just as well as I do."

"I've never been there."

"Exactly my point, doofus. Now get to the Sorting already." With that Darius hung up and Arthur was left staring at the phone with a slightly confused expression.

'Who's the doofus here?' he scoffed before scrunching his brows, 'I forgot to ask him if his father finally allowed him to take the Warlock course.'

Arthur wrapped his fist around the phone and gave it a light squeeze, 'No matter how dull my life gets, there are still some faces worth thinking about. One friend… Enough to chase the darkness.'

Darius was Arthur's human friend and one of the few reasons the phoenix hadn't completely lost his will to keep living. One of the reasons he hadn't given up on the joys this life could still bring him.

The prince picked up a band from his dresser, his insecurities suddenly diminished.

Now, for some reason, his overgrown white hair didn't look that bad anymore… Either that or he didn't care anymore. The prince held back his hair, tying it in a bundle to keep it from obstructing his vision, 'I'll consider a haircut later.'

With that, he walked up to his desk and packed a leather bag with his essentials. A few books and pens. The rest of the requirements would be taken care of by the school, so the prince didn't bother overpacking.

As someone that was going to be commuting, he didn't need to pack a large suitcase of clothes along with toiletries or whatever luxuries his father would allow him to take with him.

As a prince, Arthur couldn't imagine what the limit of things he could take would be.

For now, there wasn't much he needed to carry.

What he really needed to put into this bag was a large leatherbound book that he'd only recently acquired from the castle library entitled 'The Age of Phoenixes.'

Coming across the book as he browsed through the library happened by total coincidence but once he set his eyes on the old manuscript, he was practically glued to it.

The top cover was designed intricately with the head of a majestic bird crafted brilliantly out of leather, a phoenix with red rubies set firmly into its eye sockets.

Looking at it the first time, the rubies had glowed and miraculously, given him a glimpse of the knowledge bound within the pages of the book.

From everything that had rushed through his mind during that moment that he set his eyes on the ruby gems, he could only describe the knowledge with one word…

Vast.

The information was too vast for his mind to grasp, leaving him with only one thing. A deep sense of longing and thirst for knowledge that the book contained.

Since then, Arthur resorted to carrying it everywhere he went… hoping to one day finish it and absorb the insurmountable knowledge it held.

Unfortunately for him, he'd only recently acquired it and hadn't yet gotten the chance to peruse through its pages.

This… This was the second reason the young phoenix had found to keep pushing forward with his dull life.

Arthur caressed the thick leather cover of the ancient book before carefully placing it in its own compartment inside his bag and rushing out the door.

Today was a new day, his mood had just been kickstarted by his best friend's enthusiasm and now was the time for him to face whatever lay ahead of him. The prince stepped out the door, greeted by the scent of the old thick cobblestone walls of the castle in which he lived.

Arthur ghosted his way through the castle, walking as fast as he could through it. Down the stairs, through the numerous familiar halls as he made his way down the castle that was his home.

Concealing the aura of his flame core was second nature and something that allowed him to sneak through the castle nearly unnoticed.

As a royal, he was easily noticed the moment his aura leaked out among the phoenixes which brought him unnecessary attention.

It went without saying that most of the phoenixes noticed this tactic that he used to get by unnoticed. And some kept an eye out for him, lest he walked in on them saying something inappropriate—not like he would do anything about it.

Arthur was better off keeping to himself anyway and not diving into the matters of his own kin. Those that noticed him quickly offered their greetings to the rushing prince.

The occasional greeting was protocol for them after all.

When they met a prince, it was only natural that they would greet him with the respect his title commanded. But there was nothing more to it than that, for the adults and children anyway.

Arthur's peers, on the other hand, were much more comfortable with openly ignoring him… or the opposite…

Openly mocking him.

Arthur preferred the former.

After weaving through the elaborate halls and going down several flights of stairs, the prince made it to the courtyard and crossed it, hastily making his way to the Mess Hall.

Once inside the Mess Hall, he took a moment to gaze upon a large multi-coloured tinted glass portrait that stood at the far front end of the Mess Hall. The image in the glass was that of a lovely family.

A father with a heavy crown on his head and lush garments, a red cloak draped over his shoulders.

A mother with a simple light crown and a smile that seemed to have come from the angels.

In the mother's arms, a baby was wrapped neatly in white, tilted at just the right angle for his face to be seen in the portrait.

Within the covers that wrapped him, curious sapphire eyes peered out at the world.

Standing in front of the father was a young boy with flaming orange hair, standing proudly in front of his parents with his chest puffed out. The image in this portrait felt like a piece of a dream brought into the real world.

Arthur bowed slightly in respect, 'Mother.'

Tucking the thoughts of the beautiful woman away along with the heavy emotions tied to her memory, he approached the counter to be served his breakfast.

This was another action that a prince needn't have bothered himself with.

While there were many perks that came with being a prince, Arthur had long since abandoned them. Most of these luxuries and privileges came with a condition he wanted to severely do away with:

Phoenix social interaction.

Getting things done this way could reduce the number of people he had to talk to in one day. Looking over the counter that peeked into the sophisticated castle kitchens, he called out, "Hello… Can I get something good?"

The scents of honey, coffee, peppermint, cinnamon and a various assortment of different foods and confectioneries assaulted his nostrils, forcing him to swoon in anticipation, 'Now there is one thing all living things share in common. Food.'

The prince revelled in the sweet scent of confectioneries and beverages that made its way to his sensitive nostrils and made life even more worth living.

"Ugh, what are you doing here? Don't you have anything better to do?" a feminine voice suddenly interrupted him, bringing Arthur out of whatever daydreaming spell had taken a hold of him.

At first, he thought perhaps, this person was talking to someone else but after a quick mental recap of what he'd been through, Arthur realised that was highly unlikely and even considered himself dumb for thinking otherwise.

She was certainly talking to him.

The prince scanned his surroundings and without much of a delay, his eyes landed on a beautiful blonde female standing on the other side of the counter in an apron.

Her jade eyes were captivating enough as it was and her features were close to perfection. Oddly enough, the prince found the light patches of flour on her cheeks charming.

If only it hadn't been for the expression on her face. Perhaps then, he would have taken a liking to her… but it was all too familiar and all credit he had given to her looks quickly died down, degrading her to the average phoenix girl.

That said, she was yet to get on the list of phoenix girls he'd never associate with. Her hands were covered in a thin layer of flour and crossed over her chest with a look of disdain.

'Getting close…' he thought to himself.

"Are you going to keep wasting my time or should I come later when you've made up your mind, Fallen Prince?" the female continued, having caught Arthur's attention.

Arthur nearly groaned loudly at the sound of his infamous nickname.